Let's Guess the Number of Apologies for Catholic Clergy Starting with Pope John II



Every week or so we read about Pope Francis making another apology for misconduct of his clergy. Before Pope Francis other Popes apologized for clergy. Pope John II made at least eight major announcements of apologies.

Pope Francis is on a world tour. It should be called the Pope Apology Tour. I tried to find how many speeches and press statements he has made apologizing for priests but could not find a tally. He must have issued two or three dozen public apologies.

The apologies have not solved the need for them. New allegations keep coming out. I read that a group in Canada has demanded as apology for the mistreatment by Catholic Clergy of Native People there. Probably The Pope will get to that apology eventually--today he is busy apologizing in Ireland.

I thought we could wager as to how many apologies for clergy Pope Francis will make during his career and add these to the apologies done by previous Popes. If we each tossed in dollar we could give all the dollars to the person who gave the correct number.

The never ending apology tour must be miserable for the Pope. No matter the adoring crowds, a long shadow of gloom is there waiting for him at every stop. He must say over and over again how sorry he is and how terrible the clergy are that do unspeakable deeds and the deeds are covered up by cooperating Bishops.

As Fentin O'Toole writes in the Irish Times, the Pope deals with all of this by making his visits short.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Maybe the "Original Sin" Should be Reassigned

Image
We can all agree most Catholic priests are fine people and not guilty of sexual abuse. What Catholics must face, however, it that their church harbors executives who are dishonest . There is an incredible story about the Argentine Bishop Zanchetta. The Pope worked with him in Argentina and they are considered friends. Around 2015 Zanchetta sent nude pictures of himself and they began circulating world wide. He also was too friendly with young seminarians and some left because of him.  Three different officials say they made formal complaints to the Vatican about Zanchetta between 2015 and 2017. Yet, in 2018, the Vatican claimed it was unaware of any complaints about Zanchetta. This might be a good time to repeat the Catholic hierarchy claims to have the sole authority handed down from Jesus to what the faith stands for. It condemns as sinners those who practice birth control, have abortions and gay sexual relationships. Handing the hierarchy this responsibility would make...
Read more

Who Suffers from a "Hardened Heart"

Image
Some years ago on this blog there was a discussion about what the Bible calls "The hardened heart." The "hardened heart" was the explanation given for why people like me cannot accept the tenets of Christianity. We are unable to believe there are floating spirits and gods or imaginary places people go when the die. Now, a prominent Christian preacher and author has given us a way to diagnose the "hardened heart." It contained some surprises.  Rev. John Piper, who spoke about the hardened heart, said we can see this in a person who lacks "ordinary tenderness and compassion." He went on to describe the characteristics of a person without the affliction of the hardened heart. A healthy person displays empathy and sympathy. Those with the hardened heart are like stone. Jesus wanted compassion for the poor. The hardened heart discussion referred to atheists only if they are sinners and then it was indirectly. Sin, Piper said, hardens one's heart a...
Read more

Young Women can see Bull$hit a Mile Away

Image
Republicans including their Forced Birth subgroup is bother by recent election results and polling. All show young women going to the left. A poll shows young women are 30% more likely to be very liberal than young men. The link advises the Forced Birth community to give young pregnant women an uplifting message. The message suggested is, "Buck up. You've got this. You can give birth and have a happy life." Another way of saying this is, "It will be OK if you miss work and/or are fired because of the birth. If you cannot make your rent payment, it's OK. Somewhere out there is another place to live. We don't know where but be optimistic."   This is an add on to the new version of the Forced Birth message, "We're for both the baby and the mother." They are not and never have been for the mother. Their message has always been to condemn women who have abortions. Now, the "thoughts and prayers" message, which costs no money, it the me...
Read more