New week, same church

As the sacred rituals of conclave week begin, Catholicism reveals its true face in yet another country. 

A commission investigating abuse of children linked to Dutch Roman Catholic institutions says girls were sexually abused by members of the clergy in their homes and in church, while they suffered physical abuse and intimidation at the hands of nuns in boarding schools.

The commission, led by former Hague mayor Wim Deetman, was funded by the Catholic church. In preliminary conclusions in December 2011 it estimated that up to 20,000 children were molested at Catholic institutions between 1945 and 2010.

At least this one was funded by the church. Let's give them credit for that. I wonder if this news will reach the princes of the church as they settle in for their extra-holy, super-special conclave.

That's quite a church they've got there.

What's with all the flags?

There's one thing I hate about football: the endless flags. They're very irritating and they seem to come after nearly every play. It reminds me of when I was in Catholic elementary school and the nuns would click those evil little things they held in their hands. One click meant kneel; two clicks meant pray or speak in tongues -- I forget which. It was just like these incessant flags: annoying as hell.

If there's no obvious evidence of knife-play on the field and no weapons are discharged, I say get on with it. Play the damn game. Sheesh.

The photo above (you can see it on my other blog, which has graphics) was taken by cousin Carmine at yesterday's Jets game. He brought his son, Nick. Good seats, eh? It was Nick's first game and it was an odd one. The Jets' Sanchez seemed determined to lose the game. I mean, the guy threw two interceptions in the first quarter! And another later in the game. They finally pulled him and put a new kid in his spot -- and won the game. That's not the most exciting way to win a game, but the Jets will take it. I hope Nick enjoyed the game. He's a great, wonderfully baseball-mad kid. Right up my alley!

There are good religious people

I've never doubted the existence of good religious people. I've met them, so I know they exist. I remember a Catholic priest in the 60s who had a small parish in Queens. When hippies arrived on the scene, he invited me (the most visible hippie in his neighborhood) to come smoke dope with him.

He didn't actually smoke with me. But he invited me to the school gym, locked the doors and set up at a record player for our meeting. He had asked me to bring along some records, so I arrived with Donovan and Dylan albums under my arm. We sat in two folding chairs on the gym floor, next to the record player, and he invited me to smoke dope as we listened to the music and discussed it. He wanted to know what the hippie thing was all about, so he could understand what was going on with the younger members of his flock, all of whom were morphing into hippies. That was a powerful, right-minded priest. His only impulse was to understand and help.

I see this same attitude in the nuns who work so hard in the United States. Nuns are good people (for the most part). All those I've encountered have been open to the world, to new ideas. And they haven't been vicious at all. That's left to the priests. Nuns, in my experience, are never judgemental. Like that priest from the 60s, they only want to help.

So it will be very, very interesting to see what response the nuns give to the Vatican's recent attack. Today's New York Times has an interesting article about the situation. Something tells me the nuns will do the right thing, especially since Sister Pat Farrell is the president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious -- the organization directly attacked by the Vatican. She's one smart cookie. I know in my heart that the nuns will not buckle under. You cannot silence people who can tell right from wrong. The nuns have been using their brains (and their hearts) all these years, while the priests have not. It's the nuns who'll come out on top. Just you wait and see.

And now for something completely different

The other day I wrote approvingly about Bill Keller's column on Catholics, nuns and the popey guy. Armando at Kos has a very different reaction. He sees Keller's column as a diss directed at progressive Catholics.

What's your take on this?

Good gay/church story

It's at HuffPo, I'm afraid, but it's a good story. If you like the gay guys to win (in a moral sense) and the bishops to lose (in every sense), you'll enjoy reading this.

Catholic bishops attack gay people at every opportunity and their actions are taking a toll on the church. Can we all admit that they looked like evil morons when they attacked American nuns last week? And let's not forget their recent foray into politics, where they trotted out a meaningless campaign about contraception and government, just to please the GOP.

They're not doing these things in the dark. Catholics see these actions and they are not pleased. Truly, the pope and the bishops are the greatest threats facing Roman Catholicism today. By their actions, the bishops show the church's true, evil face to the people. This does not go unnoticed.

Supporting the nuns

Nick Kristof, the NY Times op-ed guy I chastised recently, has a great column up today about the popey guy and the nuns. Here's an outtake or two:

If you look at who has more closely emulated Jesus’s life, Pope Benedict or your average nun, it’s the nun hands down...

“How dare they go after 57,000 dedicated women whose median age is well over 70 and who work tirelessly for a more just world?” [Mary E.] Hunt [a Catholic theologian] wrote. “How dare the very men who preside over a church in utter disgrace due to sexual misconduct and cover-ups by bishops try to distract from their own problems by creating new ones for women religious?”

This is one of the worst things the popey guy has done and it's going to blow up in his face, big-time. Even I like the nuns. Sure, they're dopey for jeebus but they're good people who try to help those in need. You can't knock that. The popey guy is doomed.

Fun op-ed

I love Maureen Dowd's final line in her Times column this morning:

The pope needs what the rest of us got from nuns: a good rap across the knuckles.