Father Raniero Cantalamessa -- the only preacher to Pope Benedict XVI -- sparked world outrage over the Easter weekend by comparing attacks on the Catholic Church over the pedophile priest furore to anti-Semitism, according to today's Telegraph (British) website.
Jewish groups and campaigners against child abuse both reacted angrily to his comments.
Ricardo De Segni, Rome's chief rabbi, said, "It's an inappropriate parallel and of dubious taste."
Rabbi Marvin Hier -- the founder of the anti-Semitic campaign group "The Simon Wiesenthal Center" in California -- demanded an apology from the Pope himself. Rabbi Hier said, "The remarks are shameful, inaccurate, and a complete distortion of history."
The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) -- the largest and most active of such groups in the United States -- denounced the remarks, saying they insulted "both abuse victims and Jewish people."
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In my parish, St. John the Evangelist in Goshen, NY, the first major pedophile scandal materialized in the early nineties. The priest in question, "Father Ed" had been molesting boys in their early teens. To say that the parishioners were traumatized by this would be an understatement. They were devastated. Then something wondrous happened....
ReplyDeleteFather Ed was eventually replaced by Father Trevor Nichols. Father Trevor had been an Anglican in merrie old England when he converted to Catholicism. On becoming a Catholic was transferred to Saint John's - WITH HIS WIFE AND TWO DAUGHTERS! A married priest! WITH TWO KIDS!
You want to hear the punch line? Our little parish did not implode. The sun did not fall from the sky. Huge cracks did not appear in the earth's surface. In fact, it was nice having them. They were - and are to this day - deeply beloved by the people of St. John's.
Allowing priests to marry would transform the Catholic Church. Having a married priest and his lovely family in our midst certainly transformed the people of St. John's.
http://www.tomdegan.blogspot.com
Tom Degan
I agree that if Catholic priests were married, the Catholic Church would not have the plethora of abuse cases against priests that it now has.
ReplyDeleteEastern Orthodox and Protestant priests are allowed to be married, and these churches do not have the magnitude of abuse cases as the Catholic Church. Yet the Catholic Church allows these priest to convert to Catholicism -- and to be Catholic priests -- even though they are married. I consider this to be a double standard of the Catholic Church.