WHAT I CAN TELL YOU ABOUT THE VICTIMS

When the news broke of the release of the report about the pedophile scandal in the Catholic Church in Pennsylvania, all hell broke loose on social media, and everyone seemed to be focused on lengthy discussions about how to punish the evildoers, and how to fix the Catholic Church so that this does not happen any more.

At first, I joined the conversations. As a convert, I was horrified by the revelations of the ever-widening scope of the pedophile ring. Then I realized that none of the posts I was reading made mention of the victims. The focus seemed entirely on the perpetrators, present and future. I found that odd.

After questioning many people about this remarkable lack of interest in the victims, and reading many weak and unconvincing arguments about why it was somehow 'right' to ignore them, I realized that there is STILL considerable squeamishness around this topic. WHY? Evidently, the fact that the victims were subjected to sexual abuse makes other people feel uncomfortable.

As a victim of several instances of childhood sexual abuse and rape, I am speaking out for the victims in the Catholic Church scandal. Rapes and assaults are not part of the "sexual history" of someone who has been assaulted, and there is no reason why anyone should be embarrassed about the fact that they have been victimized. Assault and rape are not "sex." They are crimes against innocent persons. Though my PTSD would flare dramatically if I was made to recount the details, I do not mind presenting my credentials as one of a huge group of people violated by adults when we were children.

I was sexually abused by my father when I was a toddler.

My first stepfather tried to rape me when I was 7 years old.

My second step father tried to strangle me when I was 11.

When I was 14, I was drugged, gang raped, and thrown into a river to die.

Instead of just jumping right into a vigorous discussion about how to punish the latest batch of perpetrators and their co-conspirators, I would ask, what would Jesus do? His first care would be for the victims, which is what I recommend.

Empathy, sympathy, kindness, emotional support, prayer vigils; these are all good things, but mostly I recommend that, instead of barging in and making pronouncements of the causes and cures of the pedophilia problem in the Catholic Church, we should first care for the victims.

While most of us will not have access to the actual victims of these specific crimes, neither do we have access to the movers and shakers in the curia. Our impact on the authorities at the top of the institutional hierarchy is no different than the impact we might have on the victims. There is really no good reason why we should be ignoring the victims and jumping on top of the "crime and punishment" aspect of the issue, nattering endlessly about what caused this and how to fix.

It is nearly hilarious the large number of people who behave as if their opinion about what the Church should do is very very important. Very. Never mind that none of us has any power over what the Vatican does! Their opinion is important, darn it! (Sarcasm.) There are fights breaking out. It is unnecessary, and I have the feeling that all the effort spent in arguing for one's personal opinion just rubs the emotional wounds raw. We are powerless in the grip of disturbing news about the government and about the church, and it is all too much.

Don't get me wrong. I have an opinion, but I'm not married to it. Basically, I think the cause of this widespread problem in the institution of the church is Satan. Satan loves to attack The Church. He infiltrates as a wolf among the sheep. He enters the seminaries. He rises in the ranks.

Putting aside the spiritual reality of the situation, I offer the observation that predators are attracted to any situation in which he or she will have access to their prey. You find them in the schools, in the support staff for team sports, in day care centers. Wherever there is easy access to the predator's preferred prey, they are there.

For instance, divorced mothers with young children are famously vulnerable to pedophiles who  move into the home and, at night when the wife is asleep, or when they are 'babysitting,' they assault the children. Scores of vulnerable women have been fooled into letting men into their home and trusting these virtual strangers to have access to their children, based upon nothing more substantial than a bunch of sweet sounding words, a few expensive dinners, and some gifts. The man did not become a pedophile AFTER he moved into the home. He was always a pedophile. He targeted that home and those children.

Many people are saying that "The Church" created predators. In their mind, it is because of celibacy or clericalism or the lack of female priests. Homosexuality gets the blame by some, who mistakenly believe that abuse of boys by men assumes that the perpetrator is homosexual. (Some ARE homosexual, but if they routinely violate children, they are pedophiles! Homosexuality and pedophilia are two separate things!)

The Church, like schools and day care centers and young mothers with underage children, represent opportunities in which predators hope to enjoy close access to prey. Access to prey doesn't CREATE the predators. Predators are the wolves. The Church is a pen that holds the lambs. The wolves do whatever they have to do to get access to the lambs.

But, whatever the cause of these crimes, I would suggest that everyone stop wasting their time trying to figure it out on Facebook. The public at large is not in possession of all the facts necessary to come to a proper conclusion, no matter how convinced we are of our accuracy in diagnosing the causes and cures of the problems the church currently faces. It is way beyond our pay grade.

So, what SHOULD we do? First, I recommend continual prayers for the victims and, if you have the ability, donate your time and your money to agencies that help with mental health concerns because people who have been assaulted by predators usually grow into adults with considerable emotional and psychological baggage. Some commit suicide. MANY go on to become abusers themselves, and that's a real tragedy. We should stay centered in love, care and concern for these souls who continue to suffer for the rest of their lives. The damage of abuse can be ameliorated, but it is never eliminated.

This is the jumping off point where research into the agencies that administer programs for adult survivors of abuse can be helpful. We do not have to find those specific people who suffered at the hands of these particular priests. Anyone who has been violated is in need of our prayers, and the community of sufferers in our society is huge.

There are many possible avenues of help, and this little blog is not meant to be exhaustive. I am just trying to get people to give some attention to the victims instead of pontificating about punishments.

It is worth noting, also, that many people are using this opportunity to trash Catholic moral teaching on sexual matters, wrongly claiming that celibacy is responsible for the assaults. There is absolutely NO evidence for that point of view whatsoever. Many religions advocate for the restraint of the sexual urges as a means of accessing higher mystical realms.

We can only have faith that, somehow, the institutional church will repair itself. Like everyone else, I have many ideas about how that might be accomplished, but it would be a waste of my time and yours to prattle on about it here.

I know several people who are leaving because of this scandal. My approach is to stay and fight Satan, but I understand some people do not feel strong enough to do it. They will learn, in future, that "The Catholic Church" did not create the predators and that Satan and his minions are everywhere. Perhaps the disaffected Catholics will return, once the overwhelming reality of the situation is demonstrated to them.

OF COURSE we should let our feelings be known and heard at the highest levels in the church hierarchy, but effective change will not be easily made, because this problem has been known for many many years, and the hierarchy is so clogged with perverts, little has been done.

But let us not forget to care for the victims. After all, when we happen upon a terrible accident on the highway, we take care of the injured first.

God save us all.

Silver Rose

THE POPE SHOULD MEET WITH THE VICTIMS

Social media is abuzz with ideas about what should be done about the Catholic hierarchy, specifically the Bishops, after the just-released report of the pedophile ring in the Pennsylvania Catholic churches.

Many people are loudly advocating that ALL American bishops should resign. Apparently, the Venezuelan bishops made the gesture, but not all of the resignations were accepted by the Pope.

We do not need grand empty gestures. I am quite sure that the victims need more than "thoughts and prayers" and gestures and more words. Words words words.

Our Jesus was a hands-on kind of guy. People loved Jesus because he turned his face upon them and accepted them personally and individually, despite their low position in society.

If the Pope really is on the side of the victims, he should come to America and meet with each victim individually because that is what Jesus would do. 

It is the institutional hierarchy that allowed these horrors to occur, therefore, the ultimate authority in that hierarchy must submit itself to those injured by it.

The Pope must come to America and humble himself before each and every victim that wishes to speak with him. That is where we must start - with the personal, individual healing of each and every victim.

I urge every Catholic to petition Rome for the Pope to come here, meet with the victims, and begin the healing.

God save us.

Silver Rose

THE POWER OF THE MIND

Saint Julian of Norwich

Anchoress

I went to mass yesterday for the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. There was a visiting priest who spoke about beginning one's transformation into a person of Christ by starting with a turn of the mind to think well of others, such as the immigrant, the poor, etc. I appreciated his homily very much, as it spoke to my background as a contemplative nun.

Everything begins in the mind. Every action we take is an expression of something that has started in the mind. Whatever forms the basis of your overall value structure is going to be reflected in your actions.

To the degree to which our stated values differ from our actions is the degree to which our commitment to those values is deformed. In simplistic terms, if we say we are Christian, but we refuse to forgive our enemies and, instead, advocate for retaliation, our actions betray us, since they are in stark contradiction to the Christian values we espouse.

Yesterday, we awoke to news that Donald Trump had retaliated against another detractor by pulling his security clearance, a clear abuse of power that has come to be commonplace for this dictator wannabe whose brutal tactics and vulgar xenophobic, racist and misogynistic language have made the United States universally hated. Many of us no longer feel safe in America, thanks to this malignant narcissist and his fascist sycophants.

Also in the news was the shocking final result of the investigation into the pedophilia scandal of the Pennsylvania Catholic Church. Something like 300 priests violated more than 1,000 children, one as young as 18 months old! The priests were protected by the bishop and others. Reports of the incidents used code words like "boundary issues" to describe assaults and rapes. Horrific details of the violations of these children filtered out through multiple newscasts and reports, resulting in a chaos of grief and anger on social media and among my friends.

We have reached a dangerous point in our national history. We can no longer depend upon the government for stability, integrity, and the rule of law and, just when we most need the church to hold onto, we find that it, also, has been infiltrated by Satan. What can we do?

The very first thing to do is remind ourselves and one another that, while Satan has infiltrated our church, we cannot give up our hope. We cannot give up our faith. Christ is not diminished by the wolves in sheep's clothing that have savaged our children and marred the edifice of the institutional church in the process. Our faith is no less valid now than when it was given to us by Christ, and we must not judge our religion by the reprehensible acts of individuals who have failed to live up to its lofty aims.

In addition to practical measures that need to be taken to fight Satan where he has infiltrated our government and our religious institutions, we must continue to remind ourselves of Christ and to look upon the world with the eyes of Christ. We must continue to incline our minds toward the Lord and think as he does. Contemplation and meditation helps us do this.

This is a very simple practice. In a quiet place, sit comfortably erect, if you can, and meditate upon Christ. Just think of him and his qualities. Think upon him sitting in your heart, the center of your being. Establish the feeling of Him within yourself. Then, take a lesson from the Gospels in which Jesus has demonstrated a love for the poor, for instance, and adopt that love as your own, in your mind.

Think of Jesus sitting in your heart. Think upon his loving heart. His heart becomes your heart. Gaze upon the world from that perspective. That is it. Deceptively simple, but give it a try.  Even if you only have a few moments, try to do this practice whenever you can - preferably three times a day.

Our true foundation and all our stability comes entirely from Christ - not from our government or our religious institutions. We must continue to establish our entire being in Him and Him in us.

God bless us all.

Silver Rose

BARABBAS IN THE MODERN WORLD

I chose Christianity, not because of childhood indoctrination, but because I read the works of some Catholic mystics while I was living as a Hindu-style nun, and became inspired. Considering that my value system also resonated with Christian principles of morality and social justice, it made sense to explore the faith. I thought I might become a Catholic nun. So I left the Hindu convent, went back to work at a law firm in Beverly Hills, and started RCIA classes in a nearby Catholic Church. I could not do anything else, because I had found The Truth and, although I loved my life in the Vedanta convent, which provided an ideal mix of group living and independence, I could not remain there. I felt I had found the higher truth.

When I first read about the angry mobs who screamed for Jesus to be locked up, and again when they chose Barabbas instead of The Lord, I read these passages with the sense that these people were obviously a primitive lot because no one would be so stupid as to pick a common criminal instead of Jesus. I had picked Jesus, and I was nothing special. Even I could see his greatness. I mistakenly thought that 2,000 years of Christianity must have civilized us to the extent that those angry, misguided people who chose Barabbas over our Lord were just a whisper of dusty history. I was wrong.

The mob howls for Barabbas

The angry mob is here with us today, but, again, instead of choosing the way of our meek and loving Jesus, instead of loving one's enemies and one's neighbors and doing good to the poor, hungry and naked, they're shrieking their approval of a carnival barker styled conman who encourages their selfishness, xenophobia and prejudices.

Trump supporter gives "the finger" to journalists

at a Trump rally 

Donald Trump is not a criminal mastermind. Instead, he is a bumbling Anti-Christ whose callow self-interest and massive narcissism is broadly displayed for everyone to see. Evidently, that is his appeal. The crowd sees him as an everyman like themselves, scarfing cheeseburgers and sodas in his ubiquitous red sports cap so evocative of the common man who toils for his living.

The fact that Trump has never toiled, having been given millions of dollars by his father to start a business, is ignored by the mob. It is enough for them that Trump appears to be like them in a few deliberately cultivated expressions.

It is a relief to them to feel free to express their closely guarded prejudices against immigrants, brown people, gays, and the educated classes whom they dub "the elite." Trump has given them permission to celebrate their basest instincts. He says complimentary things about white supremacists, neo-Nazis and dictators, and they eat it up because the crude and brutal tactics of the authoritarian do not require any finesse, tact, diplomacy or intelligence.  They're tired of waiting around for the fruits of diplomatic discussions. It is beyond their comprehension, and they have no patience for it.

I am not suggesting that the Democratic Party is synonymous with Jesus. It is more faithful to the commandments of Jesus, at this point in time. Feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, housing the homeless, and educating the masses are favored by Democrats. The Party of Trump, which used to be the Republican Party, favors an opposite in the extreme.

There is a pretense of the G.O.P. being a "pro-life" party - but it was a Republican majority Supreme Court that legalized abortion in our country, and the Republicans continue to fund Planned Parenthood to this very day. They have no intention of criminalizing it and are only claiming to be pro-life in order to capture the votes from a sector of the Christian community that is obsessed with the topic of abortion and would vote for a cheese sandwich if it had "pro-life" written on it - spelled out in bacon bits.

In fact, the Republican Party violates the entire spirit of the commandments of Jesus who would NOT condone building a wall to keep out refugees and hungry immigrants. He would NOT rip families apart at our borders, kidnap their children and incarcerate them. He would NOT take food out of the mouths of poor families by cutting food stamps, and he would NOT think that giving rich people big tax breaks at the expense of the poor is a good idea. These are obvious truths, but the selfishness of the human heart is so captivating that some people will eat it up if you whitewash it with a patina of fake religiosity.

Donald Trump himself is not Christian. He is not now, nor has he ever been, a church going man. He spends his Sundays on the golf course, at considerable expense to the American public that pays for his entire entourage to be accommodated at luxury resorts. Prior to becoming elected, he criticized Barack Obama for golfing. Trump claimed he would not ever golf when he became president. He would be too busy for that. Like everything else, it was a lie, but his people do not care. As in every cult, they listen raptly to his voice but never call him to account for himself.

"I'm gonna be workin' for you. I'm not gonna have time to

go play golf, believe me." ~ Donald Trump

Trump's apologists sometimes call him a "baby Christian," but Trump does not behave as if he has experienced any kind of conversion.  Instead of expressing remorse for his completely immoral life, he lies about paying off porn stars and models to keep them quiet about his extramarital affairs, and slanders the reputations of more than a dozen women who have come forward with detailed descriptions of his sexual assaults against them. He is the same man who, on an Access Hollywood videotape, bragged about assaulting women by grabbing them by their genitals.

He has lied to and/or mislead the American public more than 3,000 times since becoming President and, despite every Christian being fully aware that the father of all lies is Satan himself, some of them continue to give Trump a pass on his wretched behavior because, "after all, who among us has not sinned?" and other such ridiculous nonsense. He is a completely unrepentant pagan who, when each offense is discovered, doubles down and lies about it, but he feeds his base a mockery of pseudo-Christian pretense that lets everyone off the hook. They all get to fantasize about a great Christian revival in our government while taking food out of the mouths of hungry people at the same time.

Meanwhile, Trump is trying to squash the Mueller investigation while his campaign chairman is being tried in court for conspiracy with the Russians, and all evidence leaked so far indicates that Trump himself conspired with the Russians to hack our political system in order to assure a win for himself. We have videotape of Trump inviting the Russians to do it, but what's a little treason among friends?

Satan tempts Jesus

"I reject Satan and all his works and all his empty promises."

~ Baptismal Vow ~

Choosing Jesus and rejecting Satan is a daily task, and it isn't easy because nothing presents itself as purely Satanic or purely angelic in our world. Everything is mixed. Like Sisyphus and his boulder, we have to get behind that which appears to tend more toward the good and push it up the hill toward heaven.

This particular choice was easy for me to make. I did not choose Barabbas. Will you?

Silver Rose