Throughout the course of the evening, one of the people that we met asked about our siblings. My friend, who is very proud of her brother and his vocation to the priesthood, is very open that her brother is a priest.
The response? "How do you feel about your brother molesting boys?"
How do you answer that? (And, who says that? Since when is that considered an appropriate thing to say just after meeting someone?) I wish I could say this is the first time this exact same situation has reared its ugly head while I've been out with her, but it's not. My friend has even been on a date and had that question posed.
Please pray for our priests, and also for their families. Anti-Catholicism is not always blatant, but it is certainly alive and well.
Image: Anti-Catholic protesters during World Youth Day in Madrid last summer.
15 comments:
it is almost like some people are programmed to say such things and do so without even thinking about it. It is mostly a media thing that makes it an automatic reaction.
As long as the cover up continues and the laity and clergy do not hold their bishops accountable that question will continue to be asked.
Wrongly accusing an innocent priest of a crime doesn't hold the bishop accountable.
My issue is A. With the assumption that every priest is an abuser and B. That it is considered acceptable to make insinuations like this, to his sister's face, never having met the man. Perhaps this is penance for the abuses that have occurred, however.
This is unbelievably disgusting! There's no excuse to speak to others like this. Your friend is a white martyr. I cringe to think of what my own children will have to cope with when my son enters the seminary next month.
The response? "How do you feel about your brother molesting boys?"
How do you answer that?
Hmmm... How about, "How can you say such a biggotted thing?"
Or you could just throw the rest of your drink in their face.
Certainly a strong reaction is warranted. These people will continue to say these things unless checked. And as these things get repeated throughout society they will gradually become believed. Or worse yet, when a devout Catholic does NOT respond with a strong defense they may consider that as evidence of the veracity of the statement/question.
The only good answer I could come up with would be to slap the questioner across the face. Though I rather like Anon 7:11's throw the rest of your drink in his face.
But your friend is doubtless a much more classy act than I am. God bless her and her brother.
I'd have to agree with Anon @ 3:38. The truth is that such bigots need to be called out for their hatred, nastiness and rudeness.
These prejudices have been made acceptable by the relentless media campaign to paint Catholic institutions as the only ones plagued by sex abuse.
I've encountered these kinds of slurs and I try to calmly ask the person to name another group in the place of priests and see if they would still say what they said. Occasionally, I've even received an apology, more often sputtering, but at least the seed is planted that this might be an unjust way of thinking about the problem.
I would say "it is funny you ask!, the department of justice reports that the number one sexual predator for under age children is an uncle, so what do you think about your brothe molesting your own children?"
"How do you feel about your brother molesting boys?"
I'd go with:
"I don't know, how do you feel about your mother raising a total moron?"
Bella Dodd said that 1,400 communists became priests and infiltrated the Catholic Church to destroy it. Four became Cardinals at the Vatican.
"Only the communist priests who infiltrated the church to destroy it molested children." proof at Bella Dodd. "Let the communist priests try to infiltrate heaven". Justice is pedicated on intent. Their intention was to destroy the church. Ask her, "What kind of inferrence is that?" "Are you insinuating that my brother is a criminal and do you have proof?" If you witnessed a crime you ought to have reported it to the proper authorities." Any time an individual consents to crime he automatically excommunicates himself. St. John Crysostom said that the floor in hell is paved with the skulls of bishops.
Don't call it "anti-Catholicism". It's anti-Truth, and anti-God. "Anti-Catholicism" / "Christophobia" makes it sound like we're only another one of the whiny groups of today. The way you seem to comment on it also makes it sound like we're eventually, hopefully, going to beat it in a utopian future with all those other groups, or at least strive for it. But of course it's alive and well, and it's going to be alive and well until the end of time. We know this from the mouth of Our Lord himself. It has been and it's going to get a lot worse than a mean comment at a nice party. Just a few days ago another video surfaced of one more convert getting his head sawed off with a knife in the Middle-East.
But I am dreadfully sorry for your encounter with "anti-Catholicism" in-between drinks at the high-rise condo. Boy, it sure is being tough these days. Now let's go fight for religious liberty and be true Americans! YEAH!
How about "Oh, no, he's a priest, not a football coach."
A good smack in the mouth would have been in order!Would that have been uncharitable?
"Come to confession, it will do you a lot of good over that guilt you're suppressing. My brother's available."
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