Child abuse in Ireland's Catholic community is not an Irish problem. It's a Catholic problem. And Pope Benedict's letter of apology is a hollow one.
In response, Sinead O'Connor wrote:
"Irish Catholics are in a dysfunctional relationship with an abusive organization. The pope must take responsibility for the actions of his subordinates. If Catholic priests are abusing children, it is Rome, not Dublin, that must answer for it with a full confession and in a criminal investigation. Until it does, all good Catholics -- even little old ladies who go to church every Sunday, not just protest singers like me whom the Vatican can easily ignore -- should avoid Mass. In Ireland, it is time we separated our God from our religion, and our faith from its alleged leaders."
Indeed, God and faith have little to do with religious organizations such as the Pope and the Church hierarchy, which is a patriarchy run by men without any say from women at all.
This is in stark contrast to the history of Christianity where time and again women of power helped influence Christianity, including Augustine's mother and Constantine the Great's mother, Helena. In the early church, it was normal for rich widows to help the church.
Maybe it's time for rich Irish celebrities like Sinead O'Connor to heal the pain of Eire's shame.
2 comments:
Child abuse may have occurred in ancient times as well as today, but it is not the norm.
http://www.psychohistory.com/htm/eln08_childrearing.html
Nothing in this link should be practiced today, nor should it be called normal.
Every persecutor was a victim in his childhood — Alice Miller
http://www.alice-miller.com/index_en.php?page=2
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