Wat geef je de vader die alles al heeft?

New York Times

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Joanna Stasia

 NYC 

Perhaps I nitpick, but when Ross and others refer to the rampant molestation of children by Catholic clergy as a 'scandal' it angers me. A scandal is when people cheat on their spouses, an athlete dopes up with steroids, a politician gives a job to his nephew. Consensual and nobody gets physically hurt. 

Just sit and watch the closing credits of the movie "Spotlight" and it is sobering: they list every diocese around the world with known cases of Catholic clergy raping and molesting kids. The list scrolls on and on and on and on..........

This was not a 'scandal'. It was an atrocity. Making it even worse, pastors and bishops made the deliberate choice not to protect the kids, but to cover up what was happening to protect the church's reputation, thus feeding more young bodies into this physical and emotional wood chipper. Only getting caught by investigative reporters and being exposed brought about any sense of responsibility. This was plainly and simply an atrocity. And Francis' missteps on his recent trip when he was dismissive of new accusations and protective of the accused cleric were simply shocking. 

I know several people for whom this sexual corruption was the straw that broke the camel's back. As the pews get emptier and emptier, and Catholic parish schools close their doors, we have yet to reach that place where the Vatican seems to have fully grasped how to handle this: calling new accusations "Fake News" is definitely not the way to go!