SUPPORTERS of a priest who stepped down from his position over allegations regarding the safeguarding of children have said he will launch a robust defence against what they described as the "ludicrous" claims.To be quite honest, I don't know whether the current protocols regarding how these issues are handled need to be reviewed in the interest of the 'natural justice' due to the priest. However, in terms of understanding the past and dealing with the present, it's well worth taking note of the pressure the Bishop is being put under for dealing with this case 'by the book'. You can be sure that similar pressures were at issue when these things were handled a lot differently in the past. People don't want to believe these things about their clergy. I hope and pray that Fr Brennan is totally innocent of any wrong-doing, but if, God forbid, he is found guilty of something, how do we interpret the actions of his parishioners. Would it be fair to call them facilitators in abuse?
A groundswell of support has gathered in Blackrock, Co Louth, for Fr Oliver Brennan, who made the decision in order to allow the investigation to proceed.
Substantial anger has been aimed at Bishop Gerard Clifford, who made a statement telling parishioners of the development at a Mass over the weekend.
(snip)
Bishop Clifford was confronted by a number of irate parishioners after he read the statement. He was said to have been visibly affected by their angry reaction.
I have no brief to defend the indefensible or to justify the actions of bishops whose actions perpetuated abuse, but the groundswell of support for Fr Brennan should make us think about why it was so easy for our bishops to make such bad decisions in the past.
1 comment:
Yes, it looks like a lose-lose situation. People never want to believe that THEIR beloved friend/priest would EVER do anything wrong. The lousy wrongdoers are always SOMEONE ELSE'S beloved friend/priest or (even better) some ugly loner that nobody ever liked, anyway. It is this kind of thing that makes parishioners turn a blind eye and a deaf ear....until there is so much evidence that they have to profess themselves shocked, shocked and betrayed. Meanwhile, child abusers are famously charismatic, plausible manipulators.
I met a teenage-boy-abusing priest years ago (and in another country). He was a friend of the man I was dating, and my then-boyfriend assured me that this priest hadn't really done anything wrong: he had just kissed a gay barely-underage teenage boy on retreat, blah blah blah. Since then, I have been horrified to read the allegations against this man. Suffice it to say, the kissing-a-barely-under-age-gay-teen story was completely made up
I, too, hope that this priest is innocent. But given everyone's anger at bishops who covered up or shifted priests or even just followed the best psychiatric advice of the time, no bishop can simply not investigate any allegation.
Post a Comment