Okay……I’ve been debating whether to write this “column” or not. But I was so enraged by the documentary I saw on HBO called Mea Maxima Culpa, that I needed to write about it. The most powerful and yet disturbing television program I have seen….ever. If you haven’t seen it yet, I must warn you that it is so un-nerving that if you didn’t see it, you wouldn’t believe it. Period. It is about the sexual abuse committed by priests in the Catholic church. Unbelieveable. Of course this comes on the heels of the announcement from the Vatican today that Pope Benedict (whatever number he is) is retiring as pope. But when you see the involvement of the current pontiff in this cover up, it makes you wonder why a television network would even cover such an event as to the relavance of who will be the next pope.
It’s about a priest named Lawrence Murphy, who was in charge of a school for the deaf in Wisconsin in the 50′s and 60′s. A predator to say the least. But the courage of 3-4 men who were victims of “Father Murphy” to track this animal down to try and seek justice is so amazing, that it warrants talking about. You will be both shocked and angry when you see what the Vatican did to bury this sick chapter in the Catholic church’s history. Let me emphasize SHOCKED. The “punishment” for these creatures was getting reassigned to some beautiful palace in Rome or Massachusettes. Can you imagine?
Mind you I was raised a Catholic and have an aunt who is a member of the cloth (thank goodness she will never read this!). So this is as painful for me to bring to light as it is to read. And of course there are many committed priests that don’t fall into this category, but unfortunately they may be in the minority
Just watch the documentary and let me know your thoughts.
Jim,
CEO jpmsporterstainment.com
Please comment on this subject.
I that photo really Pope Benedict…or a negative of Bela Lugosi??? This may add another few thousand years to my already substantial Purgatory sentence…but there sure is something “fishy” about someone who resigns the Papacy, when it hasn’t happened in 600 years. You know the old saying, “Where there’s white smoke…there’s fire…” LOL
Purgatory is for animals like Father Murphy.
Being brought up Cathlic aswell, These cover ups are extremly disturbing. As a graduate of a Cathlic high school I always felt that certain celergy were more than just a little off. Thank the stars I was never a victim of such abuse. However I remenmber the horror I felt years later when a Brother I always thought was questionable was accused and diciplined for such abuse.
On the other side of the coin There was another brother,whom I knew quite well was diciplined also. I still feel to this day that those accusations couldn’t possiblly be true. Which leaves me wondering what to think?