Search within the text for the word “reparation”.  Zero.

I just read a “round up” of statements of US bishops about L’Affaire McCarrick, into which we fold the PA Report.

I did a search within the text for the word “reparation”.  Zero.

“Penance” only was mentioned in the case of the future like McCarrick is to have, via the Pope.

Reparation.

We will all reflect and consider and weigh and seek forgiveness and plan and promise and discuss.

Reparation.

Reparation.

Reparation.

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20 Comments

  1. Thomas says:

    I work in corporate America. If you are an executive, I don’t care how high up, and you get caught in a scandal like this, you get fired immediately. As in a security guard ushers you out of the building and you can not even pick up a paper clip from your deck. If it’s your’s, it will be mailed to you. Hit the road and if we see you hanging around by the door we will call the police.

    But it seems like it’s somehow written into church law that these bishops and priests have a life time gig. It doesn’t matter what a failure you are or how guilty you look. You’re there for life. Unless the civil authorities arrest you.

    How can you trust bishops and cardinals to clean up who were life time friends of McCarrick who either knew or didn’t want to know. And that willful blindness will not work in a corporation either. If you didn’t know, then you are incompetent or stupid which is a good reason to fire you as well.

  2. Chuck Ludd says:

    It seems reasonable to me for bishops to call their clergy together for a day of reparation or suggestion a routine of reparation, including mortification of the flesh (I know that is of course unfashionable and the media will go crazy). It also should be encouraged that we laymen should do acts of reparation privately and it would be great if a lay-led organization such as KofC called for lay reparation. It might seem silly to some people that lay people do acts of reparation for what has happened because “lay people didn’t do it” but Christ didn’t commit our sins either and he offered himself freely for us.

  3. Atra Dicenda, Rubra Agenda says:

    Father, I would add “mortification” and “sacrifice” and “self-denial” and “fasting and prayer” to “penance” and “reparation”

    Matthew 17:14 And when he was come to the multitude, there came to him a man falling down on his knees before him saying: Lord, have pity on my son, for he is a lunatic, and suffereth much: for he falleth often into the fire, and often into the water.
    17:15 And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him.
    17:16 Then Jesus answered and said: O unbelieving and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you? Bring him hither to me.
    17:17 And Jesus rebuked him, and the devil went out of him, and the child was cured from that hour.
    17:18 Then came the disciples to Jesus secretly, and said: Why could not we cast him out?
    17:19 Jesus said to them: Because of your unbelief. For, amen I say to you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain: Remove from hence hither, and it shall remove: and nothing shall be impossible to you.
    17:20 But this kind is not cast out but by prayer and fasting.
    17:21 And when they abode together in Galilee, Jesus said to them: The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men:

    That pretty much sums it up, currently.

  4. Malta says:

    McCarrick should go to prison; most states have lifted the statute of limitations on sex crimes of minors. I know a lot about the penal system; he will get shafted…no need for the death penalty.

  5. Malta says:

    I see the SHTF happening already, whether readers realize it or not, now. I was never a “prepper” but I would really recommend at least getting a Remington 870 shotgun with shot rounds and slugs, food and water supplies. I see Our Lady’s message at Akita being fulfilled day-by-day, right now.

  6. Imrahil says:

    But it seems like it’s somehow written into church law that these bishops and priests have a life time gig. It doesn’t matter what a failure you are or how guilty you look. You’re there for life.

    Let’s in all our just anger not forget that this is in principle a good idea – and especially so when “failure” or guilty “looks” are concerned.

  7. erick says:

    I also hear nothing about seeing that justice be done. It’s an outrage.

  8. WVC says:

    From the Cathedral of St. Paul’s in Birmingham, AL (Bishop Baker)

    In response to the recent scandals,
    the new Saturday morning Mass will be offered
    for the following intentions:
    On First Saturday, in reparation for crimes and sins of the clergy;
    on Second Saturday, for holy vocations to the priesthood;
    on Third Saturday, for healing of victims of sexual predation;
    on Fourth/Fifth Saturdays, for holy vocations to the priesthood.

    Father Jerabek has encouraged prayer and fasting as a response to the terrible scandals in the Church. While the sorts of crimes and sins committed may be found at all levels of society (in churches, in public institutions, in families, in things like human trafficking, etc.), they take on a particular gravity when committed by those who have been configured to Christ in the sacrament of Holy Orders and thus consecrated for the service of God.

    Such crimes and sins are an abomination and cry to God for vengeance. They leave unspeakable wounds of pain and suffering in their victims. These crimes and sins also offend us on the deepest level and often fill us with rage. But God does not need our rage: he desires our hearts, and we give them to him through prayer and fasting/sacrifice. Offering Mass for the above intentions, then, is one of the best things that we can do, for the Mass is the greatest prayer that we have, being Christ’s very sacrifice offered to the Father for the sins of the world.

    For other concrete suggestions, see http://stpaulsbhm.org/purify-your-church-o-lord/.

    Thank you for your faithfulness and your participation in these crucial efforts!

  9. Stephanus83 says:

    In the Diocese of Richmond, our Bishop announced a Mass of Atonement for victims of abuse two days ago. The invitation doesn’t include the word reparation, but atonement is an act of reparation for an offense. The statement is at the following link:
    https://richmonddiocese.org/bishop-barry-c-knestouts-invitation-to-mass-of-atonement-for-victims-of-abuse/

  10. Gregg the Obscure says:

    Abp. Samuel Aquila has asked each priest in the Archdiocese of Denver to offer a public Mass of Reparation every month. The request came out earlier this week, so I have not yet seen a notice of when/where any will be. details in second paragraph of long letter

  11. G1j says:

    The Church is in wait it out mode again. Lay low and offer no pathway to fix the issue. Only monetary contributions I will make going forward is with the monthly Fuel Offering envelope. All others are already in the trash. There will be a great shrinking of worship sites.

  12. birdie says:

    I want to see all Clergy wearing only sackcloth for the foreseeable future!

  13. LarryW2LJ says:

    I read an article in the Wall Street Journal by C.C Pecknold, that at the time of the 2002 Dallas Conference, Pope John Paul II recommended that the US Bishops hold a “Day of Atonement” for themselves. Telling that they didn’t follow his advice back then, either.

  14. jerome623 says:

    Cardinal Wuerl submitted his resignation on Nov. 12, 2015. It has not been accepted to date.

    Now would be a good time, no?

  15. The Masked Chicken says:

    One problem with the calls for reparation for the victims is that sexual abuse by clergy is not the same as sexual abuse by the laity because a pollution of religion is also added to the misery – to sexual abuse is added spiritual abuse, because the clergyman represents Christ. Let me explain how spiritual abuse works. The sexual abuse causes a destabilization of the sense of self of the person being abused. This is called an adverse emotional arousal state. While the self is off-kilter, anxiety, shame, and anger typically manifest, which would, normally, be released by appealing the matter to a higher authority, who re-establishes a sense of order, justice, and reality to the individual. The problem is that if, when the person is off-kilter, a command from an authority who represents (supposedly) God, is issued, either to stay silent, or even praising the abuse, the command acts as a barrier preventing the victim from releasing their anxiety and anger (they cannot appeal to a higher authority, because the abuse, supposedly, represents God as the ultimate authority). The result is that the soul of the one who is abused is surrounded by an impenetrable wall that turns back every attempt to reach beyond itself to grab onto the outside and re-establish a connection to an independent truth about itself. All of the anxiety and anger is reflected back, inward, and it grows and grows and grows. They exist in a living contradiction. Their true self believes one thing, but they have been told to believe the opposite thing, as if it were true. In a word, they are shut off from the truth of who they really are. The abuse becomes a black hole sucking in every waking thought.

    It is a living hell. Not only is the psyche affected, but the soul, as well. The exercise of faith becomes impossible because they are cut off from the truth. Suicide is often seen as the only way out.

    Almost nothing is known about how to treat spiritual abuse – I have researched the issue fairly thoroughly and the only consistent treatment is to release the hold of the abusive god-representative by either a denunciation of the act by the abuser (which doesn’t work if the command structure is only through innuendo or fear and not a direct command) or the denunciation by someone of a higher authority. This type of abuse occurs not only in sexual abuse by clergy, but in certain types of mis-guided Pentecostal shepherding communities.

    How can the clergy properly address the damage done by these heinous acts if they don’t understand it? I repeat, sexual abuse by clergy is not treatable in the same way as abuse by laity. Any abuse expert who says it is doesn’t know what they are talking about (and, unfortunately, these are the people the bishops consult or send abuse victims to) because the research on the causes and treatment of co-incident spiritual abuse in sexual abuse by clergy simply does not exist and it is the spiritual abuse which is by far the more damaging of the abuses.

    So, all of this talk of reparation is pretty hollow. These clergy, if they are sincere about reparation, must be the man and condemn the actions of the abusive clergyman and get a bishop or the pope, in the case of an abusive bishop (one must always go one step higher in the hierarchy), to denounce the abuser, in public, in a muscular fashion, to bring the true Christ back into the life of the abused person, to smash the wall around their heart and soul. The only way to treat spiritual abuse is from the outside of the person, because they are incapable of helping themselves from within (it is a living purgatory without the consoling thought of a Heaven at the end). There are no mind games a psychologist can play, no, “therapy,” which will restore the faith of the abused, because the psychologist is nothing, they do not speak for God. Another priest of equal rank cannot do anything, either. The soul of the abused has been stamped, “top secret,” by the abuser and only the abuser-classifier or one of a higher rank can release them.

    I cannot talk much about the abuse scandal without sinning in anger, but I needed to explain why this cannot just be like the secular #metoo movement. Harvey Weinstein is a squirming novice as abusers go compared to what goes on in not only the flesh, but the soul of someone who is abused by the clergy. The bishops must not soften the effects of the crimes by an appeal to a compassion which may have the effect of removing the manliness of the actions which must be taken if the abused are to be truly restored to their rights as sons and daughters of God.

    This issue of spiritual abuse applies to either heterosexual or homosexual abuse. Potentially, it applies to any sin of the sixth commandment by clergy with another person, willing or not.

    I hope this makes clear that this crisis is not just a sexual crisis like in Hollywood. It is a crisis of the Holy Wood of the Cross, whether it shall be a sign of healing or a sign of despair in the life of the abuser and the abused.

    Sure, hold prayer vigils and Masses of reparation and healing, but then, for God’s sake, go out and do the repairing and the healing, yourselves. This is the clergy’s problem, not God’s. He has already told you what to do. The Masses of healing are to give you the courage to do what you must. If God has to do it for you, well…let’s just say that fire and brimstone will be the likely climate in your retirement.

    The Chicken

  16. JMody says:

    So if our leaders have lost the sense of justice and reparation, or if they think we do not need to hear about it, can we not finally admit that these folks (the “springtime” clergy and hierarchy) are changing the Faith?

  17. Father, I think what you meant to write was … #Reparation.

    Hashtags. They’re what’s trending.

  18. Woodlawn says:

    A Traditional Latin Mass Novena of Reparation for the heinous sins detailed in the Pennsylvania grand jury report has been scheduled at St. Titus Church in Aliquippa, PA, in the Diocese of Pittsburgh. Nine Consecutive Fridays at 7PM beginning 31 August and concluding on 26 October 2018; Rosary, Confession, Low Mass, and either the Litany of the Sacred Heart or the Litany of the Precious Blood. A different priest celebrant each week. Sponsored by the Knights of Columbus Woodlawn Council 2161 Traditional Latin Mass Guild.

    Complete details are at the link below:
    https://knightsofcolumbuslatinmass.blogspot.com/2018/08/novena-of-reparation.html

    Please spread the word and attend if you are able.

  19. Suburbanbanshee says:

    Masked Chicken – I suspect that someone actually a prophet, or someone known to be a “living saint,” could help, like a Mother Teresa or a Blessed Solanus Casey. But yes, it should be the bishops acting like fathers, I would think.

  20. Red A Surcami says:

    I was born in 1961. I must have been to the old mass but I was too young to remember. Until I started attending an FSSP extraordinary form mass when I was 45, I never heard the word reparation from a Catholic priest.

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