Due to my work on liturgy I have regularly been put in a position in which I was asked about problematic liturgical practices in connection with LifeTeen, and I have tried to answer those as accurately and charitably as I could. The truth is that there were significant violations of liturgical law in connection with the typical "LifeTeen Mass," though fortunately those have recently been addressed following the intervention of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.
It gives me absolutely NO pleasure, however, to note the following news item:
Msgr. Dale Fushek, the founder of LifeTeen, has been arrested on charges in connection with the sexual abuse of minors.
According to ABC News:
Fushek was charged with three counts of assault, five of contributing
to the delinquency of a minor and two of indecent exposure.The former vicar general of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix was
arrested Monday on charges he fondled boys and young men and asked them
prying questions about their sex lives that he pretended were part of
confession.
Allegations emerged against Msgr. Fushek a number of months ago, at which point he resigned from his position as pastor of a parish in Mesa, Arizona. (Which he would have needed to do even if the charges were false.)
I must say that I am skittish about some of the allegations made against Msgr. Fushek:
Fushek resigned as pastor of St. Timothy’s in April after someone
claimed to have recovered a repressed memory involving sexual
improprieties by Fushek in 1985. He has denied the allegations.Maricopa Attorney Andrew Thomas said the priest conducted "sham
confessions" in which he extracted details about people’s sex lives for
his own gratification.
I am EXTREMELY suspicious of recovered "repressed memories." That was the basis of the witchhunt that was conducted against daycare workers a number of years ago that led to numerous innocent individuals having their reputations and careers ruined.
I am also skittish about the allegations made in connection with the sacrament of confession. There is too much potential for a Rashomon situation here, with the same question being interpreted differently or misremembered.
If innocent of the charges in connection with confession, Msgr. Fushek also would be in the unenviable position of being bound by the seal (EVEN IF THE PENITENT CLAIMS TO RELEASE HIM FROM IT) and thus unable to effectively defend himself against the allegations.
That being said, some of the evidence against Msgr. Fushek could turn out to be solid. We’ll have to wait and see.
While we wait, may we pray that justice be done in this case, whatever that may be.
Let’s also pray that the impact of this on the young people to whom LifeTeen ministers will be minimized.
Monsignor charged with sexual assault
The former vicar general of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix was arrested Monday on charges he
“CHICAGO SUN TIMES – Lawyers for Pope Benedict XVI have asked President Bush to declare the pontiff immune from liability in a lawsuit that accuses him of conspiring to cover up the molestation of three boys by a seminarian in Texas, court records show. The Vatican’s embassy in Washington sent a diplomatic memo to the State Department on May 20 requesting the U.S. government grant the pope immunity because he is a head of state, according to a May 26 motion submitted by the pope’s lawyers in U.S. District Court for the Southern Division of Texas in Houston.
Joseph Ratzinger is named as a defendant in the civil lawsuit. Now Benedict XVI, he’s accused of conspiring with the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston to cover up the abuse during the mid-1990s. In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Gerry Keener, said Tuesday that the pope is considered a head of state and automatically has diplomatic immunity.”
Maybe Pope Benedict can ask that Msgr Fushek be listed as a head of state as well…
It would be a good exercise for someone who lives in the Phoenix diocese to keep a running tab on the stories of all those ministers, who are in other denominations and get accused of sexual transgressions. Typically we see the Lutheran or SDA minister on page 13 in the B section of a paper. But if the accused is Catholic, look for Page one headlines.
Catholic Cardinal Rodriguez of Honduras, considered by some a papal contender, is on record (2002) as saying that the Israeli government promised a firestorm of pedophile priest stories in the Western world’s media if it ( the Catholic church) did not back off its criticism of their treatment of the Palestinians.
Case in point is the three year investigation by the Philadelphia DA, who is a former board member of the ADL. After three years (2002-2005)of investigating “all religious bodies” her report , which made news around the nation, was forced to admit none of the Catholic Clergy would be charged with any crime ? Curiously, no mention of the non Catholics? What is going on here ?
What can we make of District Attorney Lynn Abrahams efforts begun in 2002, the year the Catholic Cardinal warned much of this media exposure was a deliberate attack on the Catholic Church. I think it deserves to be seen for what it is. A witch hunt designed to bash the Catholicn Church. I thought District Attorneys are supposed to investigate crimes, not try to find one that may have happened 40 years ago, and try to ressurect it for a prosecution.
Let us not jump to hasty conclusions of our neighbor, but let us also examine the statements of Our Catholic leaders who have warned us of the course of action being taken by the enemies of the faith, and recognize those predictions
are being fulfilled precisely as prophesized.
CatholicDefender = Child Rape Apologist
Catholic Defender-
So, you’re saying it’s a Jewish Plot?
That’s a relief! For a while, there, I thought that we U.S. Catholics had a problem in some of our seminaries.
I was also afraid that we had a U.S. leadership that was so influenced by secular psychology that they ignored the problems inherent to homosexual clergy.
How comforting to hear that it is all the fault of Those Crafty Jews.
Criminal acts should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, but people should see the reported Catholic stories of abuse for what they are. reported Criminal acts, but with the media coverage one might expect if earthquake had hit a major city.
They are given far greater media coverage than
the members of other assemblies. And why is this? Why should a non Catholic minister and his transgressions be reorted in the B section and often not even on page 1. Yet a Catholic member of the clergy gets front page coverage and at times for days on end.
It suggests a political motive. I submit Cardinal Rodrigues is correct because what he has said would happen,has come true.
Careful now, according to Mark Shea’s blog this morning, having issues with LifeTeen makes you a RadTrad.
Catholic Cardinal Rodriguez of Honduras, considered by some a papal contender, is on record (2002) as saying that the Israeli government promised a firestorm of pedophile priest stories in the Western world’s media if it ( the Catholic church) did not back off its criticism of their treatment of the Palestinians.
Yes. Yes! It’s an international Zionist conspiracy! Quick everyone–to the tinfoil! We shall fashion hats, to protect ourselves from their evil mind rays.
Re: “CatholicDefender = Child Rape Apologist”
Well, that’s a bit of a stretch, to say the least. Please re-read CD’s comments; they are not about inappropriate actions (much less defense of them,) but about the apparent bias in publicizing allegations, whether they turn out to be founded or not.
Reminds me of one of my favorite sayings: The fact that you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you.
CatholicDefender is apparently the new handle for NeoConSpy (look at his email address if the ranting about Jewish conspiracies isn’t enough evidence). Oy.
Mark H,
Sure. Of course, the underlying theme in CatholicDefender’s post was that it is better to not report these gross transgressions.
A very kind reading of the post is “hey, others do it, and they don’t get reported on, so what’s the crime – plus, it’s a Jewish conspiracy!?!?”
For some reason defending the Heirarchy of the Catholic Church is more important to CatholicDefender than protecting children.
Much like our current Pope.
I am saying that the media exposure, of any Catholic clergy member accused of misconduct, has become a huge media event and never fails to make Page 1 headline news. I regularly see non Catholics preachers convicted of such crimes as abuse of others, and it is not page one news.
I am saying it was Cardinal Rodriguez who denounced this media exposure,of accused
Catholic clergy members, as a effort to keep the spotlight on the Catholic Church and off the Israeli government actions towards the palestinians in the middle east, which the Catholic Church was regularly denouncing as unjust. I am saying it loooks like the Cardinal might be right, the headlines on the Catholics is politically motivated in large measure.
Why did Lynn Abraham of Philadelphia wait until 2002 to undertake a massive investigation into Catholic abuse stories, which just so happened to be the same year the Cardinal made his remarks. She was investigating stories of reported crimes that took place 20-40 years ago.
Maybe she could begin a wide ranging 3 year
investigation into reports of politicans who took bribes and go back 40 years and gather all that evidence together. Then she could issue a report on all” crimes ” that took place but cannot be prosecuted !
If that happened ,folks would say she is on a witchhunt and her motive is political.
Would that be a fair comment ?
In Albuquerque, we have a large Calvary chapel here (really large.) There are many sexual predators running the young peoples groups and mission trips. Many people know that stuff goes on that shouldn’t with the youth. Whenever its brought up, the accusations get swept under the rug.
Worse things happen then 16 year old girls with no or weak fathers getting coerced into bed with an older man of 30 something. What makes me sick is that the issue can’t be brought up. My wife and I personally know of one individual who was the coach of her basketball team in high school that took advantage of his position and authority. She managed to keep him at bay, but we’re sure several of the other girls didn’t.
Where is this individual? I think he’s working with children at a church somewhere. Can we stop him? No. Who’s going to testify?
What about Calvary? It has a reputation for attracting sexual predators. Does anybody believe it? No. But it still happens.
At least the Catholic church CAN be brought to the front page of a news paper and be made accountable. That’s a blessing.
I’m not saying that Msgr. Dale Fushek is guilty or not guilty, I’m just addressing the comments people are making about how the sexual accusations of the Church are always front page while Protestant churches are all but ignored. Its a hard blessing, but its a blessing.
I support the toughest sentences for all criminals. Laws are enacted to KEEP the bad from the good. Deviant behaviour, as the Church defines it, should be punished.
The sexual revolution of the 1960’s and the opening of seminaries to homosexuals has been
a huge problem for the church. No question.
It is also a problem for many other segments
of society.
The fact the spotlight has been focused on the Catholic Church, as Cardinal Rodriguez says, shows the motives are political.
Jimmy says:
“I am EXTREMELY suspicious of recovered “repressed memories.” That was the basis of the witchhunt that was conducted against daycare workers a number of years ago that led to numerous innocent individuals having their reputations and careers ruined.”
Quite right too, and in the daycare cases there wasn’t even the Grand Prize of a fat payout from the Archdiocese which awaits the Repressed Memory crowd. But as long as the bishops are, in effect, paying people to make accusations, then we’re going to keep getting more of them.
Thank You DJ for your comments.
I am not sure I agree with ouyr comment that it is a blessing becasue all of this hurts the Catholic church.
However, the fact that you can see how the focus is being deliberately focused on the Catholic Church says it all.
As a member of the Calvary Chapel making that comment, you are not going to be insulted.
But I, as a Catholic must stand tall as the
insults and bizarre comments flood my way.
There is only one thing some people hate more than the Catholic Church…those who defend it.
Certainly there is gross bias in the coverage of Catholic clerical abuse. It’s because the secular humanist press can’t pass up a chance to portray the clergy as a bunch of hypocrites.
When they don’t have high-profile Catholics to pick on, they will target Protestants (just ask Jim Bakker or Jimmy Swaggart), because deep-down, they loathe all Christian clergy.
A clergy sex abuse story with the addition of a Roman clerical collar just multiplies the intended effect. The unspoken implication is “Look, these are the same people telling us not to have sex outside of marriage, but even they don’t REALLY believe it. They are just trying to control people.”.
That said, we should not miss this chance to clean house in the U.S. seminaries, universities, etc…
Let the Old Guard and the equivocating fence-sitters retire and make way for those who will proclaim Christ and his church.
CatholicDefender,
You are pretty repulsive. So now it’s the gays fault. None of the problem rests on the head of Bernard Law or Ratzinger for shuffling around child rapists, none of the blame rests on the Catholic Church’s practice of covering up crimes?
With defenders such as yourself, no wonder the Catholic Church is in so much trouble these days.
Continue to choose scapegoats and don’t address the real problem if you want the Catholic Church to completely fall apart.
disgusted-
So, you are disgusted with the leadership, but not with the gay culture from which came so much of this abuse?
The abuse is overwhelmingly homosexual in nature. You fault Ratzinger and Cardinal Law for not punishing the abusers. Will you also at least fault the abusers themselves?
Tim J,
First off, child rape has nothing to do with sexual orientation.
Of course, I am sure that you will dispute this. Whatever.
Yes, the monsters who commit these crimes are at fault. They are beyond disgusting. I find it more disturbing that Bernard Law and our current Pope covered up these crimes and did nothing to stop them. In fact, they helped them to continue happening, shuffling the Priests around.
I am incredulous that you don’t think that is a problem.
The chances there will be a house cleaning in the USA is small. Very Small.
The Bishops wil not do it. There is no doubt, as I see it, that most US bishops are made bishop not because of their holiness, but rather, they will not rock the boat, and can be trusted to maintain the status quo.
A perfect example is Archbishop Dolan in Milwaukee.
He came in as Bishop and the people were on their knees thanking God.
But nothing changed. The priests still make $45,000 a year instead of $12,000. No employee in the bishops office was fired.
Beautiful churches scheduled for closure were closed. Those that were closed for no apparent reason remained closed despite retired priests who could say Mass, and who asked to say Mass at these churches !
Dolan shocked the faithful Catholics in the Milwaukee Archdiocese. Today, most can’t stand him. They thought they had a real Catholic to undo some of the destruction created by Weakland, but they were 100% wrong.
One can only assume this era inthe Church is a chastisement from Heaven for the failure of the pope to consecrate Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the errors of Vatican II
creating confusion in the Church.
Of course I think it is a problem! And it’s primary cause was the misguided trust that the clergy placed in modern psychological templates in their dealings with sexual abusers. The assumption was that these people could be rehabilitated. This turned out to be wrong. That’s what we get for calling in secular “experts” to advise on the problem.
I am incredulous that you are unaware of (or unwilling to acknowledge) the strong homosexual component to the abuse scandals. The victims were, by-and-large, adolescent boys.
Fulton Sheen once pointed out that the reason the fact the world is so scandelized by catholics who behave badly is evidence that the world expects more of us.
If Cardinal Bernard Law had committed a criminal act of some kind, he would be in jail. Since he is not in jail and was not convicted of a crime, I have to assume he is not guilty of criminal wrong doing.
81% of the cases of the priest sex abuse stories involve homosexuality and NOT pedophilia.
So, we can correctly term the problem largely a homosexual problem. And since it is well documented that homosexual men are 20-300 times more promiscuous than their umnmarried hetrosexual peers, it is logical to assume once some homosexuals got into the priesthood, they would create plenty of problems. And they have.
By the way, for centuries the penalty for a priest engaging in homsexual activity was death. And the Catholic Church enforced it!
I knew that you would dispute that.
So, when a girl is raped by a man, is that heterosexual sex?
How about when a boy is raped by an adult woman – is that heterosexual sex?
No, it is child rape.
How about when a man rapes a woman – is that heterosexual sex?
No, it is rape.
Talk about the “components” all you want, but if you think rape is sex you are one twisted individual.
Rape is not about sex, it is about power – the abuse of power.
Catholic Defeder:
A) I’m Catholic.
B) Russia was consecrated.
C) If Vatican II had errors, then I should probably reconsider Mormanism (the other One True Church 🙂
Dear disgusted, I assume you have a point to make ,so please try and calmly make it.
Your protestations are becoming circular and
your anger overshadowing the point you are trying to make, which is ?
Alot of crimes are abot the abuse of power.
Rape involves sex, that’s what rape IS.
Sex is the material component, if you will.
Trying to divorce sex from rape is like trying to divorce drinking from being drunk.
CD
I am hardly angry. It saddens me that these things have been allowed to go on for so long. It disgusts me that the Church itself has facilitated the monsters in it’s midst. No punishment, just sweeping under the rug.
My point is that if the Church does not start to address these problems in some real way, we can all kiss the Catholic Church goodbye.
You sound rather angry though. At the very least all of your posts are from an emotional stand point.
Are you sure that the Catholic Church is right for you?
You might find a better home with Fred Phelps church.
If a teenage girl is raped by a priest, it is child rape, but not paedophilia. The perpetratot would be heterosexual. If a priest rapes a teenage boy, it’s child rape, and the perpetrator is homosexual. If the victim is pre-adolescent, THEN it’s paedophilia, and the sexual preference of the perpetrator isn’t relevant.
And thanks who whoever mentioned the extremely high promiscuitity in the gay community. Any group whose members on average have hundreds or thousands of sexual partners in their lifetimes obvioulsy have self-control issues. And this is the norm for homosexual men.
Don’t try to tell me that homosexuality isn’t a disorder.
DJ :
The ‘ world ‘ was consecrated, but the word Russia was left out. You can read the transcripts yourself and compare them to what Sister Lucia has maintained for the period 1929 to 1985. And you can read how Pope Pius XII also consecrated the WORLD to the Immacualate Heart of Mary, but left out the words Russia.
If a world consecration was enough, it was DONE in 1952 !
As to Vatican II, this pastoral council which never condemned or defined anything, scribbled together more verbage than the preceeding 20 councils, and never declared one word of it, infallibe.
Vatican II while certainly a valid council has been in large part the most useless council ever. It was written in such a way as to leave its meaing confusing to most, which is the intent all along.
Keep in mind the organizers of the council tore up the schema’s that Pope John XXIII and his advisors had assembled prior to the council.
and they reintroduced their own agenda.
Most went smoothly except Nostra Atete which took 3 plus years of heavy duty lobbying and politicking at the highest levels and with help from the media, several double agents in the Vatican, and the anti- Catholic NYT.
Of course, the Gospels trump anything written in the documents of a pastoral council, which will never abbrogate the teachings of Christ Crucified !
The Family Research Institute is a Colorado pro- life group that has pamphlets available that document the medical consequences of homosexuality and the promiscuity statistics.
1-303-681-3113. The numbers are shocking.
Jimmy:
A word to the wise. “CatholicDefender” is an anti-semitic kook who has already been booted off my blog and Amy’s. He will just stink up you blog while he is here. I’d ditch him if I were you.
I agree with you, by the way, about the “repressed memory” junk and the unfairness of having to address things spoken under the Seal.
Catholic Defender:
Talking about Vatican II and Russia is getting hugely off topic. I can see how the argument got there, and I’m not trying to say your pointing them out is irrelevant, but I think it shouldn’t be addressed anymore.
I don’t know enough about these topics to intelligently debate with you and others may not be in the mood to.
The only thing I will really argue is my original statement about being blessed to being held publicly accountable. I was living with a house full of Protestants in College when the sex abuse College scandal originally broke. I remember everybody asking me what I thought about it and I shared the same views as what the news was reporting from the typical Catholic on the street. That if it was all true, that we fix it and become stronger because of it.
None of them would ever have thought to say that if it were their church. That’s called witnessing. That was a blessing.
Slightly OT, sorry:
“Careful now, according to Mark Shea’s blog this morning, having issues with LifeTeen makes you a RadTrad.”
Um . . . no. That’s not what Mark said. Please re-read the entry. The words “traditional-minded” do not equate to “RadTrad” in the context given. Mark was referring to how Life Teen was maligned by some in the beginning for trying to reach teens – & how many want to make this an excuse for Novus Ordo v. Tridentine, off topic rants. That’s it. Nothing more be read into what Mark posted.
Unless one stopped reading after the phrase “. . . traditional-minded pietists.”
Thanks, Gene. Spot on. Some people need remedial reading courses.
DJ: I agree 100% that the faster these transgressors are exposed and removed from the ministry the better. I see your point, I have issues with how the spotlight has been turned up so bright on this matter. I guess it depends on how owns the spotlight !
Mark Shea: Where do you stand on the conversion of the our Jewish neighbors ? How about Protestants? Agree we should leave them alone or follow the Gospel and seek to convert them? What say u ? Is that anti-what-cha-ma-call-it.
As a police officer, I, too, am suspicious of repressed memories. I am also suspicious of 10-20 year old allegations, whick, according to the report I read, many of these are. Anybody know what the statute of limitations is in Arizona? In my state, for most felonies, it is 5 years.
Where do you stand on the conversion of the our Jewish neighbors ? How about Protestants?
I’m all for it (a fact not very hard to figure out, given what I do).
Oh no. It appears Mark Shea has brought his circus of misfits to this here peaceful Christian blog. Who let the deranged out of their cages?
I can see why anyone would be suspicious of allegations that are decades old.
However, I actually know someone who was abused by a family doctor as a child, and didn’t realize the events as abuse until much later.
For a number of years it never occurred to them that the actions of the doctor were out of bounds (being just a kid at the time), and so it faded in their memory like alot of childhood events.
From what I understand, they never forgot or repressed the memory at all, it’s just that the memory had never been placed in that area of the brain that is reserved for Life Changing Events.
Only when they recalled things as a mature adult (and put two and two together) did they understand that they had been abused.
Oh no. It appears Mark Shea has brought his circus of misfits to this here peaceful Christian blog. Who let the deranged out of their cages?
Well, Gene, congratulations! Not only have you finally been able to run away and join the circus, you *are* the circus! But Billy is a bit inclined to hyperbole. So cut him some slack.
Ot: Mark Shea: My question is not how many Jewish converts you have made in your life,
( because Jesus does not judge us on our successes ), but how many have you TRIED to convert. How many people have you ushered through RCIA?
I have no idea. I’m not obsessed with the ethnicity of people coming into the Church. I try to bear witness to everybody. Some have been of Jewish background, but I have no idea who.
Don’t hijack another thread with your obsessions about Jews, ‘kay?
That’s right, Mark!
Prove your holiness! We want to see documentation!
Personally, I like to keep track of how many Rosaries I pray by carving a notch in the eight-pound crucifix I wear around my neck.
That way, I can take pride in my own holiness, and make sure that others can see it, as well. I thank you, Lord, that I am not like other men…
To . Mark Shea. I believe it was you who came here and changed the topic. The topic had been homosexuality and the church.
OT: Since when do we call refer to a person’s ethnicity as Protestant or Jewish ?
Those are religions.
I asked a straight forward question, care to respond with a stright forward answer ?
How many of the Jewish faith have you TRIED to convert ?
I carry a 12-lb crucifix, Tim. And I bet it’s got more notches than yours! Now excuse me, but I’ve to buff my halo.
It figures that when we get a topic so connected with Arizona that somebody has to come in and make the comments thread an entirely uninteresting read.
The LifeTeen program from St. Timothy’s made it a very popular parish for teens and even young adults. I wanted to visit but school has kept me in NYC.
What Jew would even listen to “Catholicdefender”? Now Mark OTOH……….:-)
“pietists”
That, BTW, was supposed to be “priests”. My fingers betrayed me.
“How many people have you ushered through RCIA?”
So, if Jesus does not judge us on our successes, does He judge us on the number of times we’ve sponsored converts in RCIA? Seems to me, Mark’s work in apologetics has the enormous potential to facilitate folks entry into the Church. Would that count? Also, I was always under the impression that it’s not we who convert folks with our evangelism, but the Holy Spirit working through us.
And, while we’re still OT, here . . . Sr Lúcia, as one of the Fatima visionaries, conversed with the Mother of God the Son, Jesus Christ – our Lord & Savior – & through the Blessed Mother, actually heard first hand about how the consecration to Russia was to be done. She herself said she believed that it was done correctly. I’m not thinkin’ Sr Lúcia would get that wrong.
Finally, I always wanted to be in the circus! YEA!
OK. I’m done with being OT for the day. I now return you to your regularly scheduled thread. Enjoy!
“To . Mark Shea. I believe it was you who came here and changed the topic. The topic had been homosexuality and the church.”
Um . . . again, no. Catholic Defender, you brough up Fatima way before Mark entered the thread. That was far more OT than anything since. IMO.
And, that thing about me not being OT again today? Oops. Sorry.
ot: bill912 you are missing the point.
I would think those on the frontlines of trying to spread the Catholic faith to others would have countless discussions with non Catholics and Jewish friends about converting to the Catholic faith. It is a fair question.
What Jew would even listen to “Catholicdefender”? Now Mark OTOH……….:-)
My Jewish co-worker. But what do I know.
Off!
CD:
My blog gets about 7,000 page views each day. That doesn’t count my books. Presumably some Jews (and a great many Protestants) have read them. I will leave the scalp counting up to the Holy Spirit.
You do realize how weird this line of questioning is, don’t you?
Ot: Sister Lucia was silenced by the Vatican in 1985. The entire issue is under a cloud, but suffice to say, Russia is not converted, nor on the way, and if you think Peace is here, go plan your next vacation in Basra. If the consecration of Russia is done, then the promise of converting Russia and granting PEACE to the WORLD is either A.) not being fulfilled or B.) was never a part of the secret. The law of non Contradiction rules out one of these ! Take your pick.
Dear Mark: You have called me a anti- Semite, and a kook.
All I have done is ask you one question.
Notice I have not lobbed any insults to you.
In the scriptures we read that Jesus told hHis disciples to go and convert the world. He did not say ” hey guys its in the hands of the Holy Spirit.”
He said go and CONVERT. And they went and preached the news that Salvation is open to those who repent and convert to Jesus.
As a full time Catholic disciple, I assume you are doing that.
If so, then you should be able to answer my question.
He said go and CONVERT.
Actually, he didn’t. And with good reason: no man can convert another. That’s the Spirit’s job. Jesus actually said, “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”
I generally leave the baptizing up to the priest, but I try to teach all that Jesus has commanded, both in RCIA and via my writing and speaking. I’m afraid I haven’t the slightest idea who most of my readers and listeners are. Though, as I say, I presume the normal demographic spread including Jews and Protestants.
I don’t know about you, CD, but I think this is third time I’ve answered your nonsensical question. That’s enough for me.
I was paraphrasing the messaage Jesus gave to His disciples.
Jesus did not tell His disciples to engage in any other activity that might be a distraction from the mission at hand, which was TO convert
the people, in order that they might be saved.
That was what a disciple did.
I was expecting an answer like I have
” tried ” to convert 2 or 10 or 40 of my Jewish neighbors / friends in my life.
Is that a radioactive question or what ?
CatholicDefender: I’ve been at work all day, so I haven’t had a chance to read your posts in any significant detail (yet), but what I have seen of them does display a highly confrontational, negative, combattive attitude.
The fact that you’ve already been banned from Mark’s and Amy’s blogs is also a factor to be considered.
I believe in giving everybody a chance, but you’ll need to chill out or the same thing may happen here.
I just wanted to sound off on the alleged sexual abuses by priests. I believe that some have occurred. I too, am suspicious of “repressed memories”, especially when the alleged perpetrator has deep pockets. But, I have three things to say…First, priests have taken a vow of celibacy. That means (I think) they aren’t supposed to have sex with anyone, male or female. Secondly, if a man hasn’t had sex in a long time (read here priestly celibacy) that doesn’t turn him into homosexual or a child molester. Thirdly, if a priest has violated his vows, the law, and the commandments then he should be dealt with severely. But when non-Catholic friends or relatives of mine start to say that some priests are molesters because of the celibacy vow, I ask them if there was ever a time in their life when they’ve had to live without sex. Usually they will say yes. Then I ask them to reflect if that experience made them want to have sex with children or someone of the same sex. Then that is the end of the priestly celibacy discussion!
But when non-Catholic friends or relatives of mine start to say that some priests are molesters because of the celibacy vow, I ask them if there was ever a time in their life when they’ve had to live without sex. Usually they will say yes. Then I ask them to reflect if that experience made them want to have sex with children or someone of the same sex. Then that is the end of the priestly celibacy discussion!
Excellent point.
You looking for a job as an apologist?
In justice , I thought that every one was innocent unless his guilt was proven ….
However medias don’t very much care of this .(unless they are shown responsible of something : then they run away)
I don’t know what it will be about this sad story, but in France, we are speaking these day of the “procès of Outreau” were many people were accused and condemned to jail for paedophily… because children can’t lie .
However, today’s children are not has innocent has in the old days (they can see many “things” on TV and magazines) and sometimes lawyers make a little bite zeal to charge people.
These days, we are discovering that probably nothing was true in this horrible story. That children have lied, and the the justice have failed because it was in crusade against “paedophiles”…
But those who were shown on TV as child abusers have their own life completly destructed !
Even if now recognised non guilty by the same justice, for people every were they are the abusers… How will they reconstruct lthir life, their familly, have friends against ? How wil they get job, trust, friendship?
In many people minds, suspicion is guilt. They have been suspected, so for ever they are guilty !
What a pity.
Disgusting : tonight on french TV a film on child orphan molested by… religious.
I am holding out hope that he is innocent. The fact that there are (apparently) seven accusers should help get to the truth. If the charges are a conspiracy to harm a good priest, it should prove difficult to maintain with that many people. And if it’s not a conspiracy, we’d need to know that as well.
For myself, I have happy memories of Father Dale. He came to our town several years ago to preach. I was impressed by his love for the Holy Father and for Mother Teresa. His teachings gave me a spiritual boost that I very much needed at the time. I also noticed that a young lady from our Newman center was also there, and decided to ask her out on a date. I’m now married to that same young lady and have three beautiful children.
If he’s guilty of these charges, he needs to be punished to the full extent of the law. And he needs to never be in a position to minister to young people again. Although I suppose that’s likely to happen even if he’s found not guilty. But I don’t have it in me to condemn him, even if he is guilty. And I’m fine with that. It’s not my job anyway.
I’m just deeply sorrowful.
I too, hope that he is innocent. I always hate to see a man of God fall, whether he be Catholic or not. And in one of the gospels – don’t remember which one(my lack of Bible knowledge) Jesus had some pretty strong things to say about priests or religious figures who lead folks away from God. Do you think one of the items he was addressing was evil acts on their part which might cause a person to think the whole Church is wrong?
Jimmy raised an interesting issue though about the seal of confession. This priest won’t even be able to testify about the details of the confession. That would make his defense pretty tough. Didn’t Alfred Hitchcock make a movie about that?
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you Blog folks. Thanks for the compliment about being an apologist, Jimmy. That made my day! I love listening to Catholic Answers on KBVM radio here in Portland, OR. I just started listening about a year ago and have really grown in my faith and knowledge because of Catholic Answers. Now I at least have some clue on how to give a reasoned (and hopefully charitable) defense of the Faith when the subject comes up. Thank you so much. I love your shows because you are plain-spoken and people don’t need a degree in Theology to understand you. Some day when I grow up…I want to be a real apologist!!! I converted to the Catholic Faith almost 10 years ago, and man do I have a lot of catching up to do. Who knew the Church was so awesome, rich in culture and tradition (certainly not an ex-lukewarm protestant like me)?!
As to the “seal of confession” aspect of this story, I’m not so sure it is being interpreted correctly. I am under the impression that the teens had not gone to confession, but in the course of conversations outside of confession, Msgr. Fushek is alleged to have asked the teens questions, unsolicited, about their sexual activities. At the end of such discussions, he is then alleged to offer absolution, even though no confession was made or absolution being sought. If this is true, and I must emphasize, IF, then this wasn’t in the context of the sacrament of penance, and so no “seal of confession” would seem to apply. In other words, if my understanding is correct, then Fushek would be guilty of giving the teens the impression that all this was part of a confession (which they had not sought), perhaps with the intention of having the teens believe that they couldn’t discuss what was said, as being under the seal of confession, as well. Of course, we know that the seal only applies to the priest, but would the average teenager know this, if indeed, any such insinuation was made on the part of Fushek? At any rate, very sad story, and I hope none of it is true, but also prepare for the possibility that it could be.
Good! The pedophile deserves to be in prison.
By their fruits ye shall know them!
This priest’s fruits were life-teen and sexual abuse.
One is condemned and the other is allowed to infest and infect more youth.
So you know he was guilty? If so, how?
The accusation was the result of a “recovery” of a “repressed memory” from 20 years earlier. As a police officer, I am highly skeptical of “repressed memories”. I won’t deny the possibility of actual repressed memories, but I would have to have some corroborating evidence (preferably physical evidence, as that is the most reliable kind of evidence).