Wed Mar 17, 2010 7:50 pm
Cry Out as if you had a Million Voices.
It is Silence that Kills the World. - Catherine of Siena
Occasional words of wisdom become staples for rational living. One example is from Lord Acton: Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely. Another is from Edmund Burke, whom we can paraphrase slightly: All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing.
The time has come for us to declare that we have lost confidence in the hierarchical leadership of the Roman Catholic Church. This is a result of our recognition of the tsunami of corrupt behavior and secrecy that has resulted in systemic sexual abuse of young people by many clergy and religious. The perpetrators include the religious superiors, mainly bishops, who have enabled this to continue by covering up the criminal actions. It is obvious that the primary motivation of the leadership is to protect the presumed unsullied reputation of the institutional church, regardless of the consequences to mere human beings.
Therefore, we call for all clergy and religious, without exception, who have had personal knowledge of sexual abuse by others, and who did not take decisive action to stop it, to resign forthwith. In addition, we call for the immediate abolition of the requirement for an oath of unquestioning obedience and a vow of secrecy by clergy and religious to their superiors. Such an oath of blind obedience has no place in a collegial organization. A vow of secrecy is antithetical to a true Christian community. Such practices are at the heart of the corruption of the present institutional church.
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