Catholic Theologians, Educators, and Lay Leaders Call for All U.S. Bishops to Resign

A group of 1,300 Catholic theologians, educators, parishioners, and lay leaders has released a statement on Clergy Sexual Abuse in the United States and are urging others to join in signing a petition (the petition can be signed here) demanding that ALL of the Catholic bishops in the United States resign.  Why the much stronger reaction than in the wake of the sex abuse bombshell in Boston in 2002?  Most likely because (i) most of the world now knows that the rampant sexual abuse of children and minors by Catholic clergy is a global problem, and (ii) the recently released grand jury report contains detailed information on the cover ups engaged in bishops - cover ups that involve abuse much more recent that what the Church would pretend only happened in the 1950's and 1960's. I have long maintained that only a thorough and complete house cleaning of bishops involved in cover ups would begin to scratch the surface of ending the toxic misrule of self-styled "princes of the Church." In addition, a jettisoning of the Church's 12th century dogma on human sexuality is needed.  (Well over a decade ago, the Dallas Morning News documented that roughly 2/3 of U.S. Bishops had been involved in cover ups, including Walter Sullivan, the former bishop of Richmond.) Will bishops listen to the demands of the petitioners?  I will not be holding my breath since most, I suspect, care more about power, position and perks of office far more than they care about the Gospel of Christ.  Here are highlights from the statement:

In Tuesday, August 14, 2018, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro released a comprehensive grand jury report documenting the sexual abuse of over 1,000 children by 301 priests across six Pennsylvania dioceses. The document chronicles, with nauseating clarity, seven decades of clergy sexual abuse and systematic cover-ups by bishops and others in positions of power. The report comes in the wake of last months’ revelations of decades of sexual predation by Cardinal Theodore McCarrick and in the long shadow of the sexual abuse crisis in Boston and beyond.

The crimes detailed in the grand jury report evince a horror beyond expression. The report summarizes the situation thus: “Priests were raping little boys and girls, and the men of God who were responsible for them not only did nothing; they hid it all. For decades.”

Today, we call on the Catholic Bishops of the United States to prayerfully and genuinely consider submitting to Pope Francis their collective resignation as a public act of repentance and lamentation before God and God’s People.

We urge them to follow the example of Chile’s thirty-four bishops, who resigned collectively in May of this year after revelations of widespread sexual abuse and corruption were brought to light. Through prudent discernment, Pope Francis ultimately accepted three of these thirty-four resignations. It should be noted that the active bishop-to-Catholic ratio is almost the same in Chile and the United States, and that the geographical scope of the crisis in this country appears to surpass that of Chile.

The catastrophic scale and historical magnitude of the abuse makes clear that this is not a case of “a few bad apples” but rather a radical systemic injustice manifested at every level of the Church. Systemic sin cannot be ended through individual goodwill. Its wounds are not healed through statements, internal investigations, or public relations campaigns but rather through collective accountability, transparency, and truth-telling. We are responsible for the house we live in, even if we did not build it ourselves. This is why we call on the U.S. Bishops to offer their resignations collectively, in recognition of the systemic nature of this evil.

If we are to say “never again” to this catastrophic epidemic of sexual violence within the Church, then structural change on a scale previously unimaginable is required. . . . . As a collective body, the bishops have given the faithful little indication that they recognize and take accountability for the breathtaking magnitude of the violence and deceit that has continued unabated under their leadership. Thus, we call on them to follow Christ’s example in offering to the people a willing abdication of earthly status. This is a public act of penance and sorrow, absent of which no genuine process of healing and reform can begin.

We, the undersigned, teach in Catholic schools, colleges, universities, and graduate programs. We work in parishes, retreat centers, and diocesan offices. We are parishioners, lay ecclesial ministers, liturgical musicians, catechists, pastoral care workers, youth and young adult ministers, chaplains, parish workers, community advocates, students, teachers, professors, librarians, and researchers. We are mothers and fathers, aunts and uncles, sons and daughters, vowed religious. We are the baptized.

We stand in solidarity with the thousands of victims, named and unnamed, whom predatory priests, protected by the willing silence of many bishops, have raped, abused, brainwashed, traumatized, and dehumanized. We stand with those driven to alcoholism and drug addiction, to mental illness and suicide. We grieve with their families and communities.

We grieve in a different but no less profound way for our students, children, families, parents, grandparents, friends, neighbors, and all of those we love who have left or will leave the Church because they have found its leaders unworthy of trust.

Thus, we call on you, Bishops of the United States, to consider this humble and public act of penance on behalf of us all. Let it be the first of many steps toward justice, transparency, and conversion. Only then might the wrenching work of healing begin.

For those who are still Catholic I urge you to sign the petition.  The Church hierarchy will only act if confronted with overwhelming pressure. Beside signing the petition, consider (i) refraining from further financial support of the Church until real change and a house cleaning occurs - and tell you parish why you are doing so or (ii) simply walking away.  The Episcopal Church and Evangelical Lutheran Church in America provide wonderful alternatives with liturgical masses and without the utterly corrupt Church hierarchy.

Will 2018 Be the End of the Trump Presidency?

As 2017 comes to an end, the usual predictions for the coming year are being made.  One issue that bookies are still taking wagers on is whether 2018 will see the end of the presidency of Donald Trump.  As much as I detest Trump - and Pence as well - and as much as I would be thrilled to see him exit the White House, as a piece in Vanity Fair lays out, 2018 will likely not see that dream realized.  As for 2019, the results of the 2018 midterm elections could shift things should the Democrats sweep and regain control of the House of Representatives and the Senate.  Until we know that result, prognostications for 2019 would be premature.   Here are article highlights:

At this point, London bookies still think it’s likelier than not that Trump will exit before his first term is over, something no president has done while still alive. So it’s time to revisit the betting terrain and prognosticate for the coming year.

Will Donald Trump be impeached in 2018?  Mighty, mighty unlikely. If you don’t stand to multiply your investment by 20, I’d skip the bet. Impeachment is a political act, and the Republican majority will remain in place through 2018. If the investigations into collusion with Russia were yielding anything seriously damning (and if journalistic blunders on the subject weren’t outpacing scoops), it’d be different. As things stand, however, special counsel Robert Mueller seems to have found little in the way of collusion—at least that we know of—and instead shifted his focus to the obstruction of justice.

Obstruction of justice is a significant crime in itself, of course, but people are more willing to punish it if it’s part of the concealment of a bigger crime rather than the sum of the crime. As people are starting to notice, independent counsel investigations have a tendency to start by focusing on one thing and then indicting people for something else, after the process itself has made them trip over their own feet. Republicans are not going to join a pile-on over what role Donald Trump played in the false statements that former national security adviser Michael Flynn made to the F.B.I. Even Democrats are likely to flinch from impeachment talk, recalling what happened during the Clinton years.  In sum, make sure you get a big return on any Trump-impeachment bets.

Will Donald Trump be removed by the 25th Amendment?  Again—very, very unlikely. To remind readers, the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution lays out an elaborate palace-coup process with which to depose a sitting president. Such an ouster is arguably even harder to pull off than impeachment, except in cases of obvious emergency. Unless Trump interrupts a state visit to tear off all his clothes and run down Pennsylvania Avenue in winter, the palace coup won’t happen.

Will Trump resign in 2018?  Still very unlikely. To be fair, the odds of resignation are slightly better than those of impeachment or of a 25th Amendment palace coup. It requires only one powerful man, Donald Trump, to sign on. . . . . The odds of this happening with Trump, however, are mighty low. Donald Trump, while thin-skinned and incapable of rising above provocation, is indefatigable as a fighter, reminiscent of Clinton, Nixon, and other presidents in his resilience. Resignation would wound his pride too severely, because there’s no face-saving way to do it.

Will the Democrats sweep the midterms? Yes and no. They’ll do great in the House. Sean Trende of Real Clear Politics predicts a 40-seat gain, which would give Democrats a handy majority. Midterm elections have favored the incumbent president’s party only twice in the past 60 years—the first in 1998, when Republicans pushed to impeach Bill Clinton, the second in 2002, when Americans were rallying after 9/11. Trump has poor approval ratings, and there are many vulnerable House Republicans.  Flipping the Senate, though, is a lot harder.

Will Trump destroy much of life on earth?  Trump could go to war with Iran. As the fiercely anti-war Pat Buchanan has warned, U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley seems to be helping Trump to lay the groundwork for it. That would destroy Trump’s presidency, kill countless Iranians, and hasten the collapse of the United States as a great power. A bad outcome, to be sure. But it probably wouldn’t end in nuclear fire or mass civilian death in the United States.

As for North Korea, we may, ironically, be safer now that its nuclear program is nearly complete. It reduces Trump’s temptation to attack the country pre-emptively.

Mormons Plan Mass Resignation Over Anti-Gay Policy

Homophobe - Dallas H. Oaks of the Church’s Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

Perhaps Catholics can learn something from gay Mormons and their supporters.  In the wake of a cruel new policy that will bar children of gays from Mormon Church membership until they are 18 - and have disavowed their parents - many Mormons are planning a mass resignation from the Mormon Church on Saturday.  Faced with the outcry, the gathering of bitter old men who head up the Mormon Church are rumored to be rethinking their action. If one is leading a cult/clique, the last thing you want is mass resignations and the corresponding loss of funds from resigning members.  Another Washington Post story looks at the furor the mean old men in Salt Lake have brought down on themselves.  Here are excerpts:

Advocates for LGBT Mormons say they’re seeing an unprecedented uproar in the past week about a new church policy banning the baptism of same-sex couples’ children and declaring married gay couples apostates. Some longtime advocates say they know dozens of Mormons quitting over the new policy. A public group resignation is planned for Saturday and reports are surfacing that church leadership may already be preparing to tweak the controversial edict.

“I’ve seen lots of painful things, but nothing so widespread, in terms of the devastation and heartbreak. I personally talked to dozens of people who are walking away. And these aren’t people with LGBT ties. These are ardent, faithful, in-the-box believing Mormons who can’t abide this,” said Wendy Montgomery, an Arizona Mormon who has a 17-year-old gay son and who co-founded Mama Dragons, a group for church mothers with gay children.

When the group was founded four years ago it had six members. It now has more than 500. She worked to create groups like Sit With Me Sunday, a program that helps LGBT people who want to come to church but are afraid to connect with someone to take them. The volunteer running it shut it down last week after news broke of the new policy, Montgomery said. “She said, ‘It’s no longer safe to invite them. It’s better if we tell them to run.'”

Before the change, the church’s policy was that same-sex marriage might require discipline and it was usually left up to local leaders. Now that same-sex marriage is legal throughout the country, the church decided to identify those in a same-sex marriage as apostates, or people who renounce their faith. 

Rumors began this week that the church’s 15-man leadership — three in a body called The First Presidency and 12 in a lower-level unit called the Quorum of the Apostles — might change the document following the uproar.

The Salt Lake Tribute on Wednesday cited excommunicated activist John Dehlin as saying a major church governing group “sent out a memo to regional leaders, saying that ‘there will be additional clarification on these changes from the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve [Apostles] in the coming days,'” the Tribune quoted Dehlin as saying.

Former Mormons and others announced Wednesday that there will be a “mass resignation” from Mormonism Saturday at a Salt Lake City park. Critics of the church have in recent years occasionally held public “resignations,” emphasizing LDS bureaucracy that keeps people on the books until they formally quit and hoping to further their cause. 

A Utah lawyer told local station KIVI that he personally is helping more than 1,000 leave the church. You don’t need a lawyer to step away, but because the church is known for its record-keeping and keeping members on their books, some apparently enlist legal help.

Imagine if gay Catholics did the same type of mass resignations in front of  cathedrals around America and across Europe.  The media would eat it up and the PR for the Church would be devastating.  I for one would happily work to organize such events!  I hope the Mormon mass resignation effort is successful.

Virginian Pilot: Bob McDonnell Needs to Resign

A post yesterday looked at the deepening problems of Bob "Taliban Bob" McDonnell and "Gift Gate" which was driven apparently in large part by Maureen McDonnell's incredible greed and willingness to sell political favors.  McDonnell's defense: he didn't know what his wife was up to.  It defies belief and frankly suggests that McDonnell is a liar to boot.  Today, the Virginian Pilot calls on McDonnell to do the right thing and resign so as to spare Virginia more seedy headlines and embarrassment.  Here are highlights:

Less than a month ago, Gov. Bob McDonnell apologized to Virginians for the financial and ethical controversy swirling around his office. He insisted that he broke no laws and was "committed to regaining your sacred trust and confidence."

In the ensuing weeks, however, new details about McDonnell's relationship with supplement maker Star Scientific and the company's chief executive, Jonnie Williams, have called into question the commitment to restoring that trust. Worse, the revelations have raised substantial new questions about the governor's ties to the company.

Those details include additional gifts provided by Williams to the governor's family, as well as confirmation that the governor's wife, Maureen McDonnell, twice purchased shares of Star Scientific stock with money loaned to her by Williams.

As The Pilot's Julian Walker reported, those stock purchases establish a direct financial connection between the McDonnells and the company that the governor and first lady have touted during his term. The governor's explanation - that he didn't know the extent of his wife's financial dealings with Williams - doesn't change that.

Star Scientific is the focus of a federal securities investigation and is embroiled in a $700,000 tax lawsuit against the state. Yet Virginia's first family owned shares in the company and accepted lavish gifts, including designer clothes, a Rolex and tens of thousands of dollars in loans, from the company's CEO.

On Monday, The Washington Post reported, federal officials met with attorneys for the governor and his wife to discuss whether the couple should be charged. That is a dire prospect, one that underscores the magnitude of the situation and the need for steady leadership and credible reform of the system that enabled the current mess.

McDonnell's failure to completely disclose his family's financial ties to Star Scientific has diminished his credibility and drained his capacity to lead the commonwealth. The latest revelations, even without the possibility of an indictment of the commonwealth's chief executive, make the prospect of his continued leadership untenable. He must devote his full attention to sorting out his personal and legal problems.

For the good of his office, of the state and of every Virginian - and for the good of his family and of himself - McDonnell should resign.

The Pilot is correct in its analysis.  I would only add that voters need to remember that Ken Cuccinelli was in bed with Williams and Star Scientific as well.  He merely received fewer gifts.  Or at least that's what he is telling everyone.

Clarence Thomas' Growing Ethics Scandal

I have written previously about Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas' numerous ethical lapses and his outright fraudulent financial disclosures that have failed to reveal the far right money gravy train enjoyed by Thomas' wife and, indirectly, Thomas himself. Likewise, expensive gifts to Thomas and his pet projects appear to be continuing unabated. Now, the New York Times is reporting several huge financial windfalls that Thomas has enjoyed compliments of Harlan Crow, a Dallas real estate magnate and a major contributor to conservative causes. I've been blunt on this blog in terms of speaking my view that Thomas needs to resign from the Supreme Court and, if he will not go voluntarily, he needs to be removed. He is a disgrace as a member of the Supreme Court plain and simple. Think Progress has a piece that documents why Thomas needs to go from the Court as have other justices that have engaged in similar unethical behavior. First, these highlights from the Times story:
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Mr. Crow stepped in to finance the multimillion-dollar purchase and restoration of the cannery, featuring a museum about the culture and history of Pin Point that has become a pet project of Justice Thomas’s.
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The project throws a spotlight on an unusual, and ethically sensitive, friendship that appears to be markedly different from those of other justices on the nation’s highest court. Mr. Crow has done many favors for the justice and his wife, Virginia, helping finance a Savannah library project dedicated to Justice Thomas, presenting him with a Bible that belonged to Frederick Douglass and reportedly providing $500,000 for Ms. Thomas to start a Tea Party-related group. They have also spent time together at gatherings of prominent Republicans and businesspeople at Mr. Crow’s Adirondacks estate and his camp in East Texas.
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Supreme Court ethics have been under increasing scrutiny, largely because of the activities of Justice Thomas and Ms. Thomas, whose group, Liberty Central, opposed President Obama’s health care overhaul — an issue likely to wind up before the court. Mr. Crow’s donation to Liberty Central was reported by Politico.
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Mr. Crow has not personally been a party to Supreme Court litigation, but his companies have been involved in federal court cases, including four that went to the appellate level. And he has served on the boards of two conservative organizations involved in filing supporting briefs in cases before the Supreme Court. One of them, the American Enterprise Institute, with Mr. Crow as a trustee, gave Justice Thomas a bust of Lincoln valued at $15,000 and praised his jurisprudence at an awards gala in 2001.
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There are a number of reasons Justice Thomas might be thankful to Mr. Crow. In addition to giving him the Douglass Bible, valued 10 years ago at $19,000, Mr. Crow has hosted the justice aboard his private jet and his 161-foot yacht, at the exclusive Bohemian Grove retreat in California and at his grand Adirondacks summer estate called Topridge, a 105-acre spread that once belonged to Marjorie Merriweather Post, the cereal heiress.
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The code of conduct is quite clear that judges are not supposed to be soliciting money for their pet projects or charities, period,” said Arn Pearson, a lawyer with Common Cause. “If any other federal judge was doing it, he could face disciplinary action.”
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Since 2004, Justice Thomas has never reported another gift. He has continued to disclose travel costs paid by schools and organizations he has visited for speeches and teaching, but he has not reported that any travel was provided by Mr. Crow. Travel records for Mr. Crow’s planes and yacht, however, suggest that Justice Thomas may have used them in recent years.
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Here are highlights from Think Progress as to why all of this is a serious problem:
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If this sounds familiar, it’s because America has seen this movie before. Indeed, the Thomas scandal is little more than a remake of the forty year-old gifting scandal that brought down Justice Abe Fortas. Like Thomas, Fortas liked to associate with wealthy individuals with potential business before his Court. And like Thomas, Fortas took inappropriate gifts from his wealthy benefactors.
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It is difficult to distinguish Fortas’ scandal from Thomas’. Like Fortas, Thomas accepted several very valuable gifts from parties who are frequently interested in the outcome of federal court cases. One of Thomas’ benefactors has even filed briefs in his Court since giving Thomas a $15,000 gift, and Thomas has not recused himself from each of these cases.
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Of course, Thomas is also the least likely Justice to actually follow the command of precedent. Thomas embraces a discredited theory of the Constitution which would return America to a time when federal child labor laws were considered unconstitutional. His fellow justices criticize him for showing “utter disregard for our precedent and Congress’ intent.” Even ultra-conservative Justice Antonin Scalia finds Thomas’ approach to the law too extreme — in Scalia’s words “I am a textualist. I am an originalist. I am not a nut.”
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But Thomas’ disregard for what has come before him changes nothing about the precedent he faces. If Abe Fortas had to resign his seat, so too should Clarence Thomas.

Irish Op-Ed Trashes Pope and Suggests Benedict XVI Resign

Things in Ireland appear to be increasingly volatile and something that would once been unheard of is belatedly being said - such as Benedict XVI is guilty in the sex abuse scandal and should resign. The column also calls for a new method of selecting future bishops and giving power to the laity. One can but hope that this trend continues since I have zero faith in a reform of the Roman Catholic Church from within the hierarchy. American Catholics need to likewise wake up and simply say "no more" by walking away from the Church or at a minimum, withdrawing all financial support until change occurs. More than anything else, the Vatican loves money. Here are some highlights from this surprising column in the Irish Independent:

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GIVEN the scale of what is happening in the Irish Catholic Church, debating the departure of five auxiliary bishops has all the rich, ripe irrelevance to the gravity of the situation as had Taoiseach Brian Cowen's axing of five junior ministers. The only meaningful departure would be that of the Pope himself. As Cardinal Ratzinger he was probably the best informed man in the Vatican, being both Prefect of the powerful Congregation of the Faith and Dean of the College of Cardinals. These offices mean that he was privy to the ever swelling tide of reports on clerical sex abuse which poured into the Vatican during his tenure in office, from every diocese in the world. Even non-Catholics are free to access the vast accounts of clerical abuse, available on the web, like a vast open sewer.
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Instead of arguments over whether or not a handful of bishops should be hung out to dry, the Irish public should be concentrating on how they, the people -- who in the end pick up the tab for all that is happening in both Church and State -- could develop a mechanism whereby the laity would henceforth have a say in the selection of bishops. I would strongly urge our Government to tell Rome that, henceforth, a small but experienced lay panel be appointed to vet any shortlist prepared to fill Episcopal vacancies.
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Second -- as a direct response to the arrogance and tardiness of the Nuncio in dealing with the Murphy inquiry -- that we close down our embassy to the Holy See and henceforth deal with the Vatican through our embassy in Rome. These are not matters of faith. The question of clerical sex abuse has serious financial, educational and emotional implications for an Irish society . . .
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The plain fact is that the present crisis has arisen because bishops, appointed solely by Rome, were formed and operated in a culture in which the Vatican policy was Pass the Parcel. Under infectious diseases legislation there are severe penalties for failing to report certain serious illnesses to the authorities. But under the Pass the Parcel policy, what most of us would call an appalling disease -- that of paedophilia -- was covered up and the infectious one deliberately sent off to another parish to abuse trust and children in a manner which had, and has, life-long consequences.
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The Church's strange, foetid attitude towards sex came about for two reasons. One, a view that if married priests had sex it meant that he approached the altar with "soiled hands". Second, but more importantly, to save money -- as priests' dependents could have a claim on Church property. In Ireland, clerical preoccupation with sex and contraception veered from the ludicrous to the horrible. On behalf of the hierarchy, Archbishop McQuaid once informed the government that tampons should be banned because they might stimulate young girls to sexual activity and thus lead to contraception.
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If bishops are to be accorded a place of authority in Irish society, then Irish society must demand the right to check on their credentials before they are given that authority.

Daddy Dobson Retiring!

Speaking of someone obsessed with sex - especially gay sex - and pornography, James Dobson has announced his retirement from the board of directors Focus on the Family ("FOF"). In my view, Dobson is perhaps the leading promoter of anti-gay hate in the USA today and his "Love Won Out" program is a leading promoter of the "choice myth" which is cynically used to sway legislators that being gay is a "choice" and hence gays deserve no legal protections. In addition, FOF rakes in money from the program which is a parasite that preys on parents of gays and religiously brainwashed gays. Moreover, here in Virginia, the FOF affiliate, The Family Foundation, is a constant source of anti-gay poison. Therefore, hearing that Dobson is retiring from the board of directors of FOF can only be a good thing in my opinion even if he will still be peddling lies and bogus science via his radio show. The man is a menace and is the Dick Cheney counterpart of the Christian Right. Here are some highlights from the San Francisco Chronicle:

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Conservative evangelical leader James Dobson has resigned as chairman of Focus on the Family but will continue to play a prominent role at the organization he founded more than three decades ago. . . . Dobson notified the board of his decision Wednesday, and the 950 employees of the Colorado Springs, Colo.-based ministry were informed Friday morning, said Jim Daly, the group's president and chief executive officer. Dobson, 72, will continue to host Focus on the Family's flagship radio program, write a monthly newsletter and speak out on moral issues, Daly said.

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Gay-rights and liberal groups issued statements Friday warning that Dobson is not leaving the scene. Americans United for Separation of Church and State portrayed the move as Focus on the Family "merely rearranging the deck chairs on its big, intolerant ship."

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D. Michael Lindsay, a Rice University sociologist who studies evangelicals and politics, said that although Dobson will continue to be Focus on the Family's public face, his board resignation is significant because "he no longer has his hands on the levers of power" there. Observers have questioned whether Dobson's organization can remain a key player once its founder steps away.

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Daly said there is no timetable for Dobson to leave the radio program, and the group will "look for the next voice for the next generation" while Dobson remains on the air. That will likely mean not one person behind the microphone but several speaking on their respective areas of expertise, Daly said. The organization, anticipating a post-Dobson era, for several years has tried out different voices on the broadcast and in giving media interviews on hot-button social issues.

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At the same time, Focus officials have acknowledged difficulties in raising money from younger families critical to its future. The economy also has hurt. Last fall Focus on the Family eliminated more than 200 staff positions, its largest employee cutbacks ever.