Quote of the Day

Victim/survivors [of clergy sex abuse] need to explore the substance of some of the official apologies and then come to an emotional as well as cognitive acceptance of the fact that the institution and its office holders will not because they cannot respond in a manner that would reflect full awareness and accepted responsibility. Some victims get “stuck” in an almost endless contentious process trying to get the official Church to realize the enormity of their actions. They need to come to a realization that the Church’s narcissistic self-concept of a perfect society renders its leaders incapable of comprehending that the responsibility is rooted in the very core of the institutional Catholic Church.

. . . The victim’s anger at the Church and possibly at religion in general needs to be acknowledged and affirmed as a healthy response to the abuse. If it has not been done earlier in the recovery process this might be the appropriate time to examine the radical distinction between organized religion and spiritual security and strength. The toxic belief that God will be displeased if the victim feels anger towards the Church must be dispelled and replaced with a more realistic belief that the organized religious body has actually been a barrier to a secure relationship with the Higher Power. Victims attribute spiritual power to the visible Church because it has been presented as the only pathway to God. Most Catholics are never allowed to progress beyond a level of spiritual and religious development that is early-adolescent at best. The recovery process from clergy sexual abuse offers a unique opportunity for spiritual maturity.

– Tom Doyle
“The Survival of the Spirit While Mired in the
Toxic Wastes of the Ecclesiastical Swamp”
July 13, 2008

See also the previous Wild Reed post:
Fr. Thomas Doyle: “There’s Something Radically Wrong with the Institutionalized Catholic Church

Recommended Off-site Link:
He Spoke the Truth but the Vatican Wouldn’t Listen – Rubén Rosario (Pioneer Press via The Progressive Catholic Voice, March 28, 2010).