On Catholic Child Abuse, Please Leave the Jews Out of It

Like many non-Catholics, I have been observing the unfolding international scandal over sexual abuse of children by priests with a kind of shocked fascination. But apart from feeling deep compassion for the victims and anger at what they suffered, I did not feel directly involved.

That changed today when the Rev. Raniero Cantalamessa, the preacher of the papal household, delivered remarks in the traditional Good Friday prayer service in St. Peter's Basilica with Pope Benedict in attendance.

According to the New York Times account of the event, Father Cantalamessa noted that Easter and Passover were falling during the same week this year. "They (the Jews) know from experience what it means to be victims of collective violence and also because of this they are quick to recognize the recurring symptoms," he said.

Father Cantalamessa quoted from what he said was a letter from an unnamed Jewish friend. "I am following the violent and concentric attacks against the church, the pope and all the faithful by the whole world," he said the friend wrote. "The use of stereotypes, the passing from personal responsibility and guilt to a collective guilt, remind me of the more shameful aspects of anti-Semitism."

Really?

Do I really have to go through the history of Christian persecution of Jews -- the Crusades, medieval blood libels, mass expulsions, the Inquisition, routine humiliation, forcible conversions, social isolation, and on and on up to and including the Holocaust to demonstrate how misplaced this comparison is?

The fact that the remarks were delivered on Easter makes them even more problematic. My father still vividly remembers how Jews in his small town in Poland cowered in their homes on Easter because it was then that the priests preached to the faithful that Jews were responsible for the death of Jesus, a guilt that was passed from generation to generation. Townspeople would then roam the streets looking for revenge.

It's not for me to say how Catholics should sort out their issues. I have only one request: please leave the Jews out of it.

 

Follow Alan Elsner on Twitter: www.twitter.com/alanelsner

Comments

[roxanneortiz]

01:36 PM on 04/12/2010

this is just like the catholic church as a catholic myself I can easily say that this is just another tactic that is to distract people from the big issue. It more like a game to these they think that the more people that they bring in like the Jewish people and others that this problem will either be blamed on someone else or that the problem will be forgotten. Not only do I wish that the catholic church leave Jewish people out of it I also wish that they stop looking for more players for their sick game. Children were hurt here why can't they just accept responsibility and accept the consequences.

[qthedancer]

12:56 PM on 04/05/2010

Mr. Elsner, I wholeheartedly agree.

[iridium53]

11:57 AM on 04/04/2010

Your father remembers how the Catholic Priests in Poland preached that Jews were responsible for killing Jesus.

Can you just imagine just what young Ratzinger, the Hitler Youth, was taught to believe by his Priests?

And, from the highest authorities in the Catholic Church, apparently still does?

[bluesraves]

09:41 AM on 04/04/2010

Don't worry these sick old men are going to feel the heat from now on...

Excellent News

Did you know that the Vatican's status as a state is being challenged in Britain, the same people behind prosecuting War Criminals are behind it and if successful The Pope will NOT be immune from prosecution from any crime as a head of state.

The "Dic" tator Mussolini declared the Vatican a sovereign state and a leading International Lawyer declared "The notion that statehood can be created by another country's unilateral declaration is risible,"
meaning it's B.S and these are the guys who put the worst of the worst of the African & Bosnian nutters
behind bars.

Even IF they fail the heat is just getting hotter and hotter for those evil old men...

[bluesraves]

09:55 AM on 04/04/2010

Great News & One of the few times I wish a Lawyer good luck

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100404/ap_on_re_eu/eu_britain_pope

[Pema]

09:28 AM on 04/04/2010

what circumstasnce do we bring up the holocauset and what citculstances dont we? every sing;le group has been enslaved, had forced copnversions everything,. the only diffence people move foprward not stuck in the past. its called taking your power back. history is important. but there is a difference between understanding history and allowing the emotions of it to control lives decades in the futures.

[realitytrumpsbull]

05:36 AM on 04/04/2010

I think the biggest problem that organized religion has, is the tendency to live in the past. In modern times, people don't get crucified, and children have rights. People also have toilets, soap, and running water in the house. It's those Romans again, with all the fancy plumbing, and the ordinances requiring people to leave their goats outside, and that whole business with the census, and now with the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, won't be long until leather skirts and sandals come back into vogue with the military, maybe even get em some Fuller brush helmets, or something, maybe they can just get Fuller brush haircuts, they'll think of something I'm sure.

Hey, talking about religion and kids, what's with that one rabbi, and like, 23 kids? And, there was another'n, he had like, 9. I guess they didn't get the memo about global population growth? There's another sign of living in the past, 'go forth and multiply', someone has to kind of cross that out, and write 'go forth, and increment by one'. The times, they are a-changin'...

[realitytrumpsbull]

05:21 AM on 04/04/2010

Weren't the ancient Romans actually responsible for nailing Jesus on a stick and putting him on public display, when it comes right down to it? Maybe the Jews were like, accessories, ratting him out to the Roman authorities or something, but I'm pretty sure it was Roman troops swinging the hammer, there. Problem is, the Romans are no more, and their belief system is long since history, and it's not like you see little Zeus-fishies on cars, or something...

[vistafive]

09:55 AM on 04/05/2010

Any thinking Christian realizes that our common theology puts us all at fault for condemning Jesus to the cross. And any thinking Christian realizes that their Lord is, according to their belief system "the son of God", a Jew. My Lord is Jewish. That alone commands some respect for His ethnic heritage. It's a total shame how that's been perverted over time.

[anniemouse]

08:29 PM on 04/03/2010

This has always confounded me... I am a non-practicing Buddhist.. Japanese American....
The Catholic Church (based in Italy) said the Jews killed Jesus. And yet, it was a Roman (Italian descent) who condemned Jesus to death. If Jesus had not been crucified, would there ever have been a Christ? What if Jesus had died of natural causes?
The biggest question is, if Jesus was a Jew, how could his church condemn all Jews and yet adore him?
Maybe ALL stereotypes are wrong. All of them.

[Talossa]

01:29 AM on 04/04/2010

It's a bit dense, but the best book I ever read on the death of Jesus, who was responsible, and the moral implications of it all, is "The Death of the Messiah" by Raymond Brown, S.J. This is that rare book that actually gives theology a good name.

[Pema]

09:24 AM on 04/04/2010

if your non practice buddhist, your not a buddhist. christians get away with that due to the babtism, we how ever, need to work for our rice bowls. ;)

[Tony Dickey]

07:25 PM on 04/03/2010

The Church has been about denial for centuries. Indulgences? Martin Luther is crazy!

Protestants, who tried to reform the Church? HERETICS!

Science? It's ok, but it better not contradict us!

Reason? ooo scary!

The Holocaust? As long as you spare Catholics, we'll gladly look the other way.

Want more? read: http://usedkarma.net/ramble/2010/04/a-long-list-of-papal-denial/

[Mishal Zeera]

06:09 PM on 04/03/2010

Its so insulting to Jews, religion in general, and whatever you call it: God Higher Power whatever... I dont even know what to say. Im surprised this isnt more of a big deal in the news. It seems to be in Europe more so than here, but maybe its just catching on now.

[Northlite]

04:37 PM on 04/03/2010

First, I want to agree with the poster that atheistic leaders have been the greatest murderers the world has ever known--the Nazis and Communists.

But my main point is that the comparison of criticism of the Church for actual crimes and cover ups is just that: criticism. Anti-semitism has resulted in millions of Jews being burned at the stake, tortured on the rack(by Catholics in Spain and Portugal), and murdered in pogroms and the Holocaust. There is just no equivalence.

In Ireland there have been 15,000 confirmed victims of sex abuse at the hands of the Catholic clergy. In Canada, over 7,000 individual victims and over 30,000 at Catholic schools and orphanges. In the USA, over 10,000 cases. Now Germany, Austria, Spain, etc. These are crimes that even the Church has acknowledged were committed. Until the press opened the window, the Church just continued to sweep these under the rug. They should go to jail. They will go to Hell.

[KCM7]

02:15 AM on 04/04/2010

Off course. All atheist armies have "Gott mit uns" on their uniform belt buckles.
Revisionist history.

[holyheretic]

03:43 PM on 04/03/2010

THE MONSTER MUST FINALLY DIE

Cabalistic Christianity, which is Catholic Christianity, and which has prevailed for 1,500 years,

has received a mortal wound, of which the monster must finally die.

Yet so strong is his constitution, that he may endure for centuries before he expires.

John Adams

-- John Adams, letter to Thomas Jefferson, July 16, 1814, from James A Haught, ed, 2000 Years of Disbelief

http://books.google.com/books?q=%22the+monster+must+finally+die%22&btnG=Search+Books
http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/quotes/adams.htm
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Adams

-
BIBLE BELTS
http://biblebelts.blogspot.com/

BEWILDERING BIBLE LEGENDS
http://bewilderingbiblelegends.blogspot.com/

In the East God Won - in the West, Science - The high cost of organized ignorance.
http://whengodwins.blogspot.com/

[holyheretic]

03:39 PM on 04/03/2010

VATICAN’S NEW DEFENSE ON CHILD MOLESTATION CHARGES:
FINGER-POINTING
By Rebecca Dube
Published October 07, 2009, issue of October 16, 2009.
http://www.forward.com/articles/116201/

Vatican's New Defense on Child Molestation Charges: Finger ...
Oct 7, 2009 ... Vatican's New Defense on Child Molestation Charges: Finger-pointing. ... The Jews and Protestants are worse. ...

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=Vatican%E2%80%99s+New+Defense+on+Child+Molestation+Charges:The+Jews+and+Protestants+are+worse.

-

ניפוץ אלילים - ביעור הבערות
HOLY HERETICS - Jesus, Maimonides, Spinoza, the Founding Fathers, Herzl and Einstein.
http://holyheretics.com/

HOLOCAUST HAGGADAH - שואה
Top religion merchants scandalous explanations as to where the God of the Jews was during the great massacre - blame the victims.
http://holocausthagaddah.blogspot.com/

[noonespetgoat]

02:13 PM on 04/03/2010

I get it...the moderators want only anit-Christian, anti-Catholic, and if you can get any digs in a the Pope - Good on ya.

[Talossa]

01:22 AM on 04/04/2010

I am a Christian, I disagree with the Catholic Church on a number of theological issues but I don't think the word "anti-Catholic" really describes me. But I do ask that the Pope, and all other officials in the Catholic Church, be held responsible for what are in fact crimes. That is not prejudice, it is not bigotry, and it certainly doesn't rise to the level of Jew-hating, which Cantalamessa flat-out states.

If the head of my church were found to be shuffling rapists around to prevent them from being held accountable for their criminal acts, I would demand his resignation immediately. Why are loyal Catholics not demanding the same from their leaders?

[Joe The Nerd Ferraro]

01:14 PM on 04/03/2010

Excellent Post !!!