Wednesday, May 05, 2004

The post below concerns one bishop's opinion about which deviations from Catholic doctrine are troubling and which ones apparently aren't. Brian Murphy of PoliticsNJ.com reminds us of a category of violations that doesn't seem to bother the church at all:

I keep coming back to a much more emotional issue: Cardinal Law. He still takes Communion, and I'm not aware of a single bishop who has denied himself the Sacrament as a punishment for participating in the child abuse scandals of recent years.

...we have a problematic message coming out of the Catholic Church these days: the Law-McGreevey Conundrum.

If you are a Catholic politician who fights for equal rights and equal pay, find that scientific arguments about the benefits of stem cell research outweigh the unknowable theological objections of some, and refuse to impose a minority legal position on a majority of your constituents, there’s no room for you at the inn.

But if you led conspiracy, for more than a decade, to obscure and obfuscate the ongoing sexual abuse of minors...well, all's forgiven. In fact, we may be able to find space for you in the Papal Apartments.


If you don't understand that "Papal Apartments" reference, here’s a story about Bernard Law and his cozy relationship with the Vatican after he resigned as Archbishop of Boston in the wake of a massive sex-abuse scandal for which he bears an extraordinary amount of responsibility.

(Heartfelt thanks to the reader who sent me the Brian Murphy link.)

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