Petty Gossip…

The Pope apparently thinks the news that he helped protect and enable a Priest to molest over 20 kids is simply petty gossip.  Instead of addressing this scandal in any honorable or truthful way, the Pope instead is trying to turn this into an attack on the Church from outside forces.  And he uses the same defense that supporters of George Bush used of unpopular decisions:

He also said that faith in God instills “the courage of not allowing oneself to be intimidated by the petty gossip of dominant opinion.”

This has, of course, fallen out of fashion since Bush left office.  Now the act of not being led by the polls is a virtue.  Well, if you are not a Republican, I mean.

But this statement of what faith offers people would be fine if that’s what was going on.  The Catholic Church is getting hit by multiple scandals.  These scandals are tied very close to or directly to the current Pope.  They act very quickly to deal out justice to lesbian parents and pro-choice politicians.  They take strong positions on gay marriage.  But when it comes to priests raping children, the response is to keep it quiet and and let the priests keep their jobs.

The Church is paying a price for trying to cover up acts of darkness.  This is chickens coming home to roost.  And yet, the Catholic Church has spent decades attempting to play this something that was finished.  They have tried to just slide it under the rug.  Like it is not a big issue and people should stop bringing it up.  But until the Catholic Church honestly addresses this and proves they are serious about putting an end to cover ups over this?  People should be constantly bringing it up.  It is honestly tough to me to sit and listen to the Catholic Church deliver such harsh judgments on people for other issues, while trying to downplay something far more heinous.

It is not “petty gossip” or just an excuse for people to “attack the Church.”  It is a call to the Church to try and be as holy as it calls others to be.  And a good first step?  The Pope resigning.  Should he refuse?  The Church should toss him out on his tail.