The Skeeter Daddle Diaries

Not being a particularly religious fellow myself, I can’t help but watch the ongoing Confession of the Catholic Church the way a passerby might hurry past a sidewalk suicide, trying to move quickly but casting a curious eye to the crime scene. If this were a national political party or a sports franchise, we might shake our heads at a cover-up of incredible proportions. And actually we do.

But … when it’s a religion, one that numbers between a billion and two billion people, the largest organized religion on the planet, it does make a person wonder What the Hell??? This week the Vatican and the Holy See are gathering to get to the bottom of this sorry state of affairs. Cardinals and bishops and priests, the entire bureaucracy of the Lord is in attendance for some soul searching and no doubt some final atonement, plenty of Hail Mary’s, no doubt, as recompense for sins committed. For years, for decades, for centuries these folks have conspired to protect child predators. They’ve moved wayward pedophile priests from parish to parish, covered up their sins – no, let’s call them crimes, okay? – and protected the guilty from their victims and the victims’ parents and family. They’ve paid billions from their coffers to compensate these people. And still they keep those records hidden or they destroy them or they never bothered in the first place. Protecting the good name of the church was paramount.

I give the Pope credit. A little, anyway. He’s slowly come around after some initial lapses in judgement. And who knows, maybe these holy men will see the error of their ways and wise up. But mostly I think they’ll make their public confession and absolve themselves. Forgiveness is divine, you bet, and I think it’s healthy for a person to forgive himself, learn from his mistakes and move on in a better direction. But when the entire cast forgives itself and declares absolution, not so much. Crimes were committed, crimes were covered up, crimes are going on now, and crimes need to be punished. Not by mumbling some Hail Mary’s, boys, but by jail time. Not by ponying up some pesos, but by a secular system of justice. And yeah, I know they’ve paid a terrible price in public relations, terrible, one they deserve. What kind of religion is this? What kind of monsters do this? What kind of criminals cover it up? And who would still worship at that altar?

Not being a religious fellow myself, I have no clue. Mostly I just want to hurry past this sidewalk scene, go take a hot shower and try to rid myself of the memory of this creepy horror. Someone else is going to have to cast stones. Vengeance, saith the Lord, is Mine. I’m going to leave it in Her Hands.

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