Church Officials Ask for Forgiveness

Call me crazy, but I don't think it's GOD who they should be asking for forgiveness: It's the thousands of people who were once children violated by someone they were taught to believe was next to God in terms of authority.

BOSTON -- Cardinal Sean O'Malley and about two dozen bishops and priests prostrated themselves on the altar of the Cathedral of the Holy Cross on Thursday to ask forgiveness from God for the damage done by the Roman Catholic Church's clergy sex abuse scandal.

It was the first of 10 Masses or prayer services scheduled for the next week and a half across the Boston Archdiocese to offer prayers and to apologize to victims for the priests and church workers who hurt children.

"We come together in this pilgrimage overwhelmed by the sadness and pain sexual abuse has caused our church," O'Malley said during the Mass.

"We are sorry that this pain was hidden and the sins were not exposed," he said. "So much suffering was caused by the actions and inactions of bishops and priests."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/26/AR2006052600013.html

At least the Bishop publicly repented. I did receive an apology from our Bishop for being abused by a priest when I was a young boy. However, it was done through a staff member from a form letter they had for all of victims.

Of course, a short time later they tried to cut my counseling. But at least they publicly went after gays and people who are pro-choice, so they remain holy after all!

Ha ha ha ha ha. See?"

I read something quite powerful in the Thor graphic novels . . . a priest was chastising Thor for being physical actually getting involved in the daily lives of the humans . . . tried to convince Thor that keeping people from dying would make them "dependant" on Thor and the Asgardians to provide for them . . . I read it as the Church trying to say that God not doing a damn thing was the best medicine for his own faithful who have expended everything they could do to fix their suffering . . .

:wtf:

Nothing more to see here people, move along. We've asked god for forgiveness and he has given it. Matter is over. Case is closed.

confess too, such as: leading their congregations into electing the pro-War profiteers we have in Washington.

push Bush? I would have thought they favored Kerry, as he is Catholic. And John Paul II thought Bush was the AntiChrist at one point.

because he's pro-choice. The Archbishop of St. Louis was the loudest of these, but there were others.

What a money grabber. What about the parishioners that gave money for all those years? Do they get their part back? Hell no!

(because HD told us to) - All kinds of churches were pushing Bush. That's a fact. They were assigning people to work on others. Some of the RC parishes had first class Pro-Life mass mailings of letters to fellow RCs. More than one Protestant church had Sunday school lessons about Values voting. There was a lot of pressure here on the line between Kansas and Missouri - again!

Now they should come across with some cash. They have enough of it.

Any idiot can look up in the air and ask for forgiveness. This is the REAL reason for Christian arrogance in our past and present history.

All you have to do is ask Jesus for forgiveness.....what a crock of shit!

Tell God you're sorry, say ten Hail Marys and POOF, you're absolved.


As to the victims whose lives have been irreparably damaged, who gives a crap? :sarcasm:

Once upon a time, in a small village, there lived a man who was a terrible gossip. There was no tidbit of rumor too small for him to repeat, no salacious whispering too personal not for him to share.

Late in his life, his wife took sick and died. Soon after that, he realized that he was alone: his children had all grown up and moved to other towns, none of his neighbors would have anything to do with him (except when they wanted to hear recent dirt about everyone else), and even people from nearby villages would talk to him. He realized that his social isolation was the result of his lifetime of gossip. Needing advice on how to make things better, he went to the Rabbi.

"Rebbe," he said, "I have done evil things and said much that has hurt others. How can I undo what I have done?"

"Son," the rabbi replied, "Go to your home, and take the best pillow from your bed. Carry it to the village square and cut it open. Scatter the feathers to the four directions. Then return." And the man did as the rabbi told him.

"Rebbe, I have done what you asked."

"Son, return now to the village square and undo what you have done. Gather all the feathers together, and put them back in your pillow."