One of the things that surprises me when you hear church officials talk about it is that they talk about the temptation of "sex". Something is not clicking in their heads that this is WAY worse than plain old betrayal of celibacy vows. So in addition to the dude who's an actual pedophile you have a supervisor who is kind of a twelve year old about "doing it".

It's amazing how tone-deaf the stuff they say is.

Is part of why I can't get enough of reading about this. It's horrible and I have to admit a large amount of schadenfreude on this one.

Me too.

When it was just Boston (and the rest of the US, but okay), the Vatican could write it off as an anomaly. If anything good has happened, it's that Ireland and Germany show that a) it's not just some American fuck-up and b) that the highest levels of the church were involved. For once, they can't ignore it.

They can downplay it, and god, they're debasing themselves trying to do it. But they canm't write it off the way they used to.

(First version of this post lost to cat rolling over on the keyboard. Hopefully this one makes it through.)

Rembert Weakland

Wikipedia says not excommunicated, and engaged in some assholery himself, along with some unambiguously good stuff and some stuff that was dodgy but essentially private. IOW, was flawed and messy and human (er, I guess, still is, since he's still alive, just retired).

It's amazing how tone-deaf the stuff they say is.

No kidding. For a priest to pull Godwin's Law in his sermon on Good Friday in front of a man who was (albeit an unenthusiastic and unwilling member) of the Hitler Youth is about as Tin Eared as you can get.

There was a recent (as I read it in the local rag today) case that came to light in my hometown from years past where the priest was returned to the Phillipines. And let me say, sadly, there is huge homophobia in my hometown, which will just pile on the pedophelia and get conflated with. And that'll get confused. But ANYWAY, even so, I don't really know how much it will turn anyone against Rome who weren't already chafing. I was used to seeing fancy framed photos of the Pope in most of my friends' houses. I wonder what they thought of my popeless, crossless place.

That's what makes me want some fucking warrants, you know? Not ACTUALLY a law unto yourself, buck-o.

For serious.

It wasn't just a divorce Henry VIII wanted, he wanted to be his country's only monarch.

At least he took the consequences of what he did.

But I do think that a) it's plausible that men who are both religious and uncomfortable with sex and their own sexuality (and that's not unrelated), might gravitate to the church;

I suspect there might there might even be a hope that if they give themselves to the church, god will save them from these impulses.

And in related news, K is determined to get Noah baptized in a Catholic Church. As the only baptized Catholic in our household, I'm a little slower to embrace this idea. I'm actually of two minds. Growing up Catholic, attending 12 years of Catholic school, it culturally shaped me in ways that are important and relevant and necessary. In terms of academics, bar none, being raised Catholic helped me understand a lot of literature, particularly early modern, in ways that non-Catholics don't get.

But then the fuck-uppery of the Church (separate from the faith) is hard to ignore.

And we can't find a male Catholic we know (though we know one [gay] Catholic male who teaches at a Catholic school) to be the godfather.

ION, The 9 Weirdest Looking Cat Breeds

My three favorite breeds, Cornish Rex, Devon Rex and Sphinx are all there. Re: Devon Rex:

This cat looks very similar to the Cornish Rex but they have no genetic relation. They have soft down fur that is very curly. They are also known for their very large low-set ears and very large eyes. This unique cat is very adorable and is a far cry from the appearance of a regular short-haired cat. Another unique attribute about this cat is that they loved to sit perched on their owner’s shoulder just like parrot. They are also very playful and friendly cats.

Awww... makes me miss Senor....

What makes me sad is I've known some incredible catholic priests (my dad worked with some of them for Sanctuary. Fucking saved lives in C. America.) And their leadership is totally failing them and their flocks. Like JZ's guy. I may not share the faith, but man, that's gotta suck. Ditto for all the Muslims betrayed by their betrayors claiming their name.