Thomas Reese SJ fails on Pell
One of the few priests I have any respect left for in the church has been Thomas Reese SJ but I was really disappointed to see what he had to say in an interview about Cardinal Pell, who is charged with at least three serious sex assault charges, including at least one count of rape.
Reese turned himself into a pretzel in an effort to excuse Pope Francis having chosen Pell for top jobs at the Vatican despite Pell's decades long terrible reputation on sex abuse (Marie Collins: Cardinal Pell's leave from Vatican service comes 'far too late').
Also disappointing is how Reese downplayed contemporary sex abuse crimes by Catholic priests ... a couple of examples: U.S. priests accused of sex abuse get second chance in South America (2015), For Nuncio Accused of Abuse, Dominicans Want Justice at Home, Not Abroad (2014)
Here's Reese temporizing ...
The situation in the Catholic church is kind of like our current political situation here in the US. The guy in charge (The Pope or Trump) is not doing a good job, but for certain reasons, the leader's minions and the rank and file will do all they can to make him look good and to excuse his actions.
In US politics, this means the Republicans will support Trump even though he is a psycho because he will sign off on their agenda. For the Catholic church, this means the hierarchy and the average priest will wax lyrical on Francis the reforming Pope, though he's made no real reforms and is failing badly on issues like sex abuse, the rights of women, divorce/remarriage/communion, and LGBT relationships. Why? Because they don't want to see a return of the little tin god who was the previous pope.
What a failure of integrity. I had expected more of Thomas Reese.
Reese turned himself into a pretzel in an effort to excuse Pope Francis having chosen Pell for top jobs at the Vatican despite Pell's decades long terrible reputation on sex abuse (Marie Collins: Cardinal Pell's leave from Vatican service comes 'far too late').
Also disappointing is how Reese downplayed contemporary sex abuse crimes by Catholic priests ... a couple of examples: U.S. priests accused of sex abuse get second chance in South America (2015), For Nuncio Accused of Abuse, Dominicans Want Justice at Home, Not Abroad (2014)
Here's Reese temporizing ...
It's no coincidence that George Pell is accused of 'historic' sex crimes, @ThomasReeseSJ tells @DavidShuster & @MichelleMakori pic.twitter.com/Lx0UY1ZKEp
— i24NEWS English (@i24NEWS_EN) June 29, 2017
The situation in the Catholic church is kind of like our current political situation here in the US. The guy in charge (The Pope or Trump) is not doing a good job, but for certain reasons, the leader's minions and the rank and file will do all they can to make him look good and to excuse his actions.
In US politics, this means the Republicans will support Trump even though he is a psycho because he will sign off on their agenda. For the Catholic church, this means the hierarchy and the average priest will wax lyrical on Francis the reforming Pope, though he's made no real reforms and is failing badly on issues like sex abuse, the rights of women, divorce/remarriage/communion, and LGBT relationships. Why? Because they don't want to see a return of the little tin god who was the previous pope.
What a failure of integrity. I had expected more of Thomas Reese.
posted by crystal | 12:46 PM
1 Comments:
Father Reese sounds a bit like he's trying to convince himself, not the interviewer.
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