John Paul's sainthood: Doesn't this seem a bit exploitative?

[Chakravartin]

'Seems to me that fast-tracking it is little more than a bid for attention from an increasingly ineffectual, irrelevant and often criminal Papal oligarchy.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massach...s_victims/

“You would think that the institutional church would have learned, would have been sensitive to the thousands and thousands of victims and survivors out there,’’ Bob Costello told me yesterday. “But by making John Paul a saint, and by rushing the process so blatantly, I think it’s pretty clear that the leaders of the church still don’t get it. They still think it’s all about them, not about the ordinary people, not about those who have suffered.’’

There is no doubt John Paul was a great man. He was also a flawed man who presided over a church that was guilty of one of the biggest institutional coverups of criminal activity in history. The pope being rushed to sainthood failed thousands of children and in doing so failed his church and his God.

...Out in Western Massachusetts, another great priest named Jim Scahill was on the phone, talking about the lack of humility so evident in the Vatican’s rush to beatify John Paul. Scahill sat with and comforted dozens of victims of sexual abuse. He forced his bishop to defrock one abuser, and then exposed that bishop, Thomas Dupre, as an abuser, too.

Father Scahill was debating whether to talk about the beatification today during his homily at St. Michael’s Church in East Longmeadow.

“I think the kindest thing I could do is not mention it,’’ he said. “The rush to make this man a saint is abhorrent and arrogant. He did accomplish a lot as pope. But to beatify someone who didn’t protect children is a travesty, a continuation of the coverup that damaged the church so much. The money that is going to be spent on this is a disgrace. And in all their pomp and circumstance, the people who run the Vatican are revictimizing the survivors.’’

Some people want John Paul to be the patron saint of Poland.

Tom Doyle, the good priest who was ignored by the pope, has a better idea.

“John Paul,’’ he said, “should be the patron saint of looking the other way.’’

[August West]

When I heard about this in the news recently, it seemed immodest.

[cbelt3]

As a pope, he was Morris West "Shoes Of The Fisherman" class amazing. In fact it seemed as if the book was written with him in mind. (Actually it was written with another Slav in mind). Unfortunately as the prince of The Church, he let his Cardinals and Bishops get away with too much bureaucratic BS and covering up.

But yeah, as a Catholic, I think they've rushed things a bit. And the fact that the Cardinals chose a church bureaucrat instead of another true Shepherd was... disappointing.

[haikuman]

[JuanVillegas]

I think we just need the truth!

[haikuman]

Ha ~!~ Only Father Ralph de Bricassart knows the truth... and he has his nose in "Meggie" Cleary's posterior porthole .......... give me a break *(:>*

Rudie *(:>*

[SteveO]

Agreed.

It's institutional, from top to bottom. I have a grade school classmate who was abused by our parish priest. In the discovery portion of his trial, the diocese here was forced to produce documents of the coverup. Which ran so deep that many of the docs were stamped with "SHRED" because they were so incriminating. That priest was never brought to justice. He left the priesthood (allegedly) and went to Thailand or something. The whole thing is beyond terrible.

[$tevie]

It seems awfully rushed to me, too, although I'm not a Catholic and thus have no frame of reference.

I hate to say it but it feels like a move to push John Paul up into a realm where it will be impossible for "good" Catholics to question or criticize his handling of the abuse crisis, and if any non-Catholics attempt to do so they can be accused of being anti-Catholic since they will be slamming a Saint.

My husband has found a Catholic church that is NOT RC, and I will bet he is not the only person to do so. This Sainthood idea is yet another step in the Papal march to complete irrelevancy.

[JuanVillegas]

No they all know not just him. (im not talking about the sexual what ever thing). And you all think your happy now? It's going to be way better if it comes out but they think you can't handle it. I think you all can!

[Lux Interior]

JuanVillegas wrote:
No they all know not just him. (im not talking about the sexual what ever thing). And you all think your happy now? It's going to be way better if it comes out but they think you can't handle it. I think you all can!

Could you post that in the original Latin? The translation software muddled it.