I was not aware that the National Catholic Registry and EWTN were part of the Christian-hating New York press. I could see if this came from National Catholic Reporter or the Catholic Register.
He’s a great priest and also has a PHD in psychology. He has counseled thousands of sexual addicts/molosters in the last 50 years.
And if his latest statement is not the muddy ramblings of a sick and mentally feeble old man and are indicative of what he really believes about child sexual molestation, then I’m sure those thousands of counseling sessions were most helpful. / s
He could have phrased things differently but he can barely speak now. And he has appologized for the way he expressed himself. The man is in the twilight of his life and needs to be able live his remaining few years in peace.
Can the same be said or should be said of Jerry Sandusky and of the late Joe Paterno and countless other perpetrators or enablers? Does age and infirmary really excuse molestation or the enablers of the molesters?
If Father Benedict was truly misquoted or did not say what he was reported and heard to have said, then why the apology? Why did he or someone on his staff who was there not say, “That wasn’t what I said or meant to say at all”?
Father Benedict is not the first among the Catholic clergy BTW to posit the idea that the victims of child sexual molestation were the aggressors and the “seducers” of poor venerable (nervous breakdowns?) adult priests.
That might even make some sense if we are talking about already (homosexually) sexually active 16 or 18 year olds who did not become that way because some adult male, priest or otherwise molested them previously. But when we are talking about 10, 11 year old altar boys and the boys that Sandusky molested (raped) who were also in that 10-11 year old age range, to infer in any way that these children “seduced” the older man, a man in a position of power and trust, and that if the man, if it’s his first offense, that “they should not go to jail because their intention was not committing a crime” is IMO disgusting.
“Here’s this poor guy Sandusky it went on for years. Interesting: Why didn’t anyone say anything? Apparently, a number of kids knew about it and didn’t break the ice.”
So Sandusky is just some “poor guy” and it’s his victim’s fault for not “breaking the ice”?
I am of the opinion that this was not a misquote or something taken out of context but that Father Benedict’s present condition meant that he didn’t realize that speaking what he really thought was going to be problematic. Often in people with dementia and brain injuries, the normal “filter” that had been in place to keep them from sticking foot in mouth is no longer working.
“I was not aware that the National Catholic Registry and EWTN were part of the Christian-hating New York press. I could see if this came from National Catholic Reporter or the Catholic Register”
Like I said the LIBERAL media heard the interview on NCR.They ran with the story. Simple as that. From your indictment of Father Groeschel it’s obvious you were not aware of this man before this story broke. He has lived his life in an exemplary fashion, living the life of a pauper since he was ordained half a century ago.
http://www.catholicleague.org/fr-groeschel-under-fire/