It's Not Me, It's You

I used to argue that it wasn't that I didn't get it, it was that I didn't like it.

Then I gave it some more thought... could it really be possible for me to dislike so much? Maybe I really didn't get it.

But now I know that I was right all along. I get it. I just don't like it.

Haiti

My thoughts and prayers are with the people of Haiti.

O, Perdurable Shame

This report came out last November: Report by Commission of Investigation into Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin.

From the report:

1.8 The Commission received information about complaints, suspicions or knowledge of child sexual abuse in respect of 172 named priests and 11 unnamed priests. (Some or all of the 11 unnamed priests may, of course, be included in the 172 named priests.) After a preliminary examination, the Commission concluded that 102 of these priests were within remit.

1.9 It is important in the Commission's view not to equate the number of complaints with the actual instances of child sexual abuse. While a significant number of the priests against whom allegations were made admitted child sexual abuse, some denied it. Of those investigated by the Commission, one priest admitted to sexually abusing over 100 children, while another accepted that he had abused on a fortnightly basis during the currency of his ministry which lasted for over 25 years. The total number of documented complaints recorded against those two priests is just over 70. In another case, there is only one complaint but the priest has admitted to abusing at least six other children.

1.10 The Commission examined complaints in respect of over 320 children against the 46 priests in the representative sample. Substantially more of the complaints relate to boys - the ratio is 2.3 boys to 1 girl.

1.11 Of the 46 priests examined, 11 pleaded guilty to or were convicted in the criminal courts of sexual assaults on children.

I had planned on writing a bit on this, but upon review of what I've written, it seemed inappropriate. From my perspective, I can't help but feel that the local Church has failed the victims and the universal Church. I also can't help but feel that the universal Church failed the local. From my reading of Chapter 4, it seems that had the established rules and procedures been made clear and properly followed, much of this could have been prevented. This is where my commentary focused, but I can't find the phrasing to say what I want to say without it sounding like I'm trying to whitewash the horrendous events. So I ask that if you read the report, you pay careful attention to Chapter 4, and I'll say no more.


This article came out earlier this week: The Crisis of Juvenile Prison Rape: A New Report.

From the article (emphasis mine):

Reporters in Texas, in 2007, discovered that more than 750 juvenile detainees across the state had alleged sexual abuse by staff over the previous six years. That number, however, was generally thought to under-represent the true extent of such abuse, because most children were too afraid to report it: staff commonly instructed their favorite inmates to beat up kids who complained. Even when the kids did file complaints, they knew it wouldn’t do them much good. Staff covered for each other, grievance processes were sabotaged and evidence was frequently destroyed. Officials in Austin ignored what they heard, and in the very rare instances when staff were fired and their cases referred to local prosecutors, those prosecutors usually refused to act. Not one employee of the Texas Youth Commission during that six-year period was sent to prison for raping the children in his or her care.

Until now, when such stories have made it into the press, officials have been able to contend that they reflected anomalous failings of a particular facility or system. But a report released this morning by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) should change that. Mandated by the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 (PREA), and easily the largest and most authoritative study of the problem ever conducted, it makes clear that sexual abuse in juvenile detention is a national crisis.

This is a difficult problem to measure, since some inmates make false claims, and some, fearing retaliation even when promised anonymity, choose not to report abuse. Overall, most experts believe that the numbers such studies produce are usually too low. But 12.1 percent of kids taking the BJS survey across the country said they’d been sexually abused at their current facility during the preceding year. That’s approximately 3,220 out of the 26,550 who were eligible to take it.

The survey, however, was given only at large facilities that held youth that have been tried for some offense for at least ninety days. That’s more restrictive than it may sound. In total, according to the most recent data, there are nearly 93,000 kids in juvenile detention on any given day. Although we can’t assume that 12.1 percent of the larger number were sexually abused—many kids not covered by the survey are held for short periods of time, or in small facilities where rates of abuse are somewhat lower—we can say confidently that the BJS’s 3,320 figure represents only a small fraction of the juveniles sexually abused in detention every year.

I would guess that there would be those who say that this would be expected in such places. I would also guess that there would be those who say that this is additional incentive to not find oneself there. But regardless of what these children did, and let's remind ourselves that they are children, they certainly do not deserve this. These are children left in the government's care, and the government has failed them. And if indeed the government is of, by, and for the people, what can we say of our own failings?

I've been asked in the past how I can remain a member of a Church that has allowed the rampant abuse of children, and it seems that those who ask aren't really interested in hearing my response. I wonder if now I'll be asked how I could support a government with similar failings.

2010

I wake up this morning and look at the clock. 11 o'clock.

We went out last night to celebrate the New Year's arrival. Actually, the plan was to go out for just a bit and then head back and spend the rest of the night at the home base. We had bought enough alcohol to make for a happy celebration, and since I only have a couple when I'm out (no drunk driving for us, thank you), I had wanted to return home and get my drink on. But we had a pretty good time and before we knew it, midnight had come. We wound up getting home shortly after two, and I got to sleep shortly after three.

I woke up this morning at 11.

For you non-Catholics out there (who actually still come by here), January 1st is a Holy Day of Obligation for us. I myself am an afternoon/evening Mass kind of guy, and on New Year's Day that is especially true. So I go online and try to find an evening Mass to go to (being 11 o'clock, an afternoon Mass would be cutting it close). I failed, however, to remember a sort of gag that the clergy seems to play on parishioners... on this day, evening Masses are very rare. Every parish in town seemed to have an 8 am Mass, but I couldn't find anything after 1 pm. In fact, I only was able to find two 12pm Masses. One was 45 minutes away, and the other was at a parish I told myself I would never go to again.

Why wouldn't I go there again? A few years ago I wound up attending Mass there on the 4th of July. In the middle of Mass, they stopped to say the Pledge of Allegiance. That really doesn't fly with me, so I left with the intention of never returning.

But now I was left with either being very late (because I hadn't even started getting ready, and that would take a few minutes) or going somewhere I had dubious feelings towards. Putting those feelings aside, I got ready and went.

I wound up attending a bilingual Mass, which I'm really not fond of. I'm fine with a Mass in either English or Spanish, but I just don't like the mix-and-match approach of the bilingual Mass. It just seems too cutesy, as we sing verse one in one language and switch to another for the next verse. I'm all for inclusion, but if we had Mass in Latin we'd avoid the need for cleverness altogether. Just sayin'.

The point of this all? Don't really have one. I just want to start blogging more this year, and what better way than to start by blogging during the first spare moment I have this year?

Deo Gratias, Indeed!

From Rorate, Solemn Pontifical Mass in St. Peter's Basilica, October 18, 2009:

Rinascimento Sacro has announced that, as the culminating activity of the Second Convention on Summorum Pontificum organized by Giovani e Tradizione, a Solemn Pontifical Mass according to the classical Roman Rite will be celebrated in the Chapel of Eucharistic Adoration in St. Peter's Basilica on Sunday, October 18, 2009 at 10:00 a.m. The Mass will be offered by His Excellency, Archbishop Raymond Leo Burke, Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura. Music will be provided by a mixed choir of Franciscans of the Immaculate.

Deo Gratias!

Brick by brick! I think that it is now only a matter of time before the Holy Father celebrates the Traditional Latin Mass at the high alter in St. Peter's Basilica. At least that's what I'm hoping.

Dirty Pool

I've had a Discover Card for quite a few years. I don't make it a habit to go buying crap willy-nilly, let alone buying something and putting it on my card, so my Discover card doesn't normally see a whole bunch of action. But I do like to have it around, and I find it especially useful when I travel.

And I liked Discover... they always seemed to be ok, or at least as ok as a lender could be expected to be. I even participated in their credit protection service... being the paranoid guy I am and all. That means that each month they got a little money from me. Not a whole bunch, but I'd say certainly enough to cover maintaining my account and still turn a small profit.

So we get this letter from Discover (emphasis mine):

Discover Card periodically reviews the status of all our accounts to make sure they have been active in the last 30 days. If you have not used your Discover Card recently, now is the time to use it for all your purchases to keep your credit line active and avoid potential closure.

Are you kidding me? A threat?? Use their card or potentially have my account canceled?

Ya... that's gonna work.

I call Discover and speak with an account manager, letting her know that I'm going to cancel my account. I'm not one to take out my anger on the phone people... after all, they themselves usually aren't trying to yank my chain. She asks me why and I let her know that I got this threatening letter, and that I'm not one to be told what to do by a service provider and so I'll be taking my business elsewhere.

She tries to explain that it wasn't meant to be a threat, just a reminder of all the wonderful options available through Discover.

Ya... that's a good one.

I'm well aware of Discover's promotional methodologies, as I've been a customer for years. Receiving what was essentially a post card in the mail wasn't a promotion. This was a threat, plain and simple. You would think that a lender would realize that in this financial climate, threats aren't really the best approach to customer retention. Talk about expecting more from your credit card.

Discover can kiss me square in the Southern Fried Chicken.


Note: There was one good thing that came of all this. While writing this rant, I used the word "cancelled" instead of "canceled". Blogger didn't like "cancelled", which I thought was correct, but it does like "canceled", which I can't say I've used before. A quick Google leaves me believing that both may be correct. So now I'm on a mission to see which is more correct. I'll accomplish this after I get everything else on my plate cleared. If you compare the timestamps of my last post and this one, you'll get an idea as to how quickly things are moving around here. *eyeroll*

On the Burner

There are a few things I'd like to post about here in the near future. Since I haven't posted lately, I thought I'd give a rundown of things that (I'm hoping) are to come:

1. I'd like to post about my experience last Sunday when I attended the extraordinary form the Mass. I think I've found a parish here in Phoenix that offers the ordinary form of the Mass in Latin, so I'll visit that this Sunday and blog about my combined experience next week.

2. I'd like to post about a topic mentioned in the discussion of the Death Penalty Repealed In Colorado post... expiation through death. This is definitely one I want to write, but sources are proving hard to come by.

3. I was listening to the Sean Hannity show a while back and he was spouting off about his support for waterboarding. Given the position taken by the last two Popes, I'd like to discuss the consequences of public figures (such as Mr. Hannity) who call themselves "devout Catholics" yet offer views contrary to the teachings of the Church. The discussion would involve whether or not they go as far as to actually violate Church teaching, and the consequences of this. A hindrance here is finding text/audio/visual transcripts of Catholics pushing the limits (I've heard some do it, but I don't have the sources I can link to).

There are a few other ideas simmering... including one of those really long and annoying stories that don't really go anywhere. I'll try to get to them as time allows, but it seems like there's always something gumming up the works.