Fr Benedict Groeschel should be excommunicated for remarks

By Chellie Cervone - Posted: Sep 1, 2012 at 10:19 pm

Fr Benedict Groeschel should be excommunicated

It’s been a while since I have actively practiced my faith, but I am pretty sure that a Friar can be excommunicated and if so then Fr Benedict Groeschel should be excommunicated for remarks he recently made in an interview.

Although I was exposed to both of my parents beliefs, Catholic and Jewish in my younger years, I was raised predominately Catholic. I attended catechism, had both my communion and confirmation and went to Catholic School all my life including a Catholic University.

My younger life was good and I never once had a Priest or other clergy member ever attempt to do anything inappropriate to me – likely attributable to the fact that even as small child, I was very outspoken and tough.

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When I was growing up, my family did not even touch upon the subject of sexual abuse however I know that I would have told them in a heartbeat and most surely would have attempted to punch out anyone who tried to touch me inappropriately. I attribute these innate qualities due to the solid foundation I fortunately received from my parents.

Whether I admitted it or not, I started to get really disgusted at all of the instances of sexual abuse by Catholic Priests that were being publicized. Although I still believe in God, I no longer wished to be a part of church activities and gradually drifted away.

Each time I read of yet another instance of abuse by Priests, I would think to myself, “What is wrong with these Priests”. Those thoughts eventually expanded to include, “What is wrong with the Vatican”.

I came to the conclusion long ago that a large part of the problem is that Catholic Priest are not allowed to marry, Sure there are a few married ones but that is because they transferred in from other faiths.

Somehow, either the Catholic Church got a reputation as some sort of smorgasbord for messed up Priests who are really pedophiles at heart to feed on their sick desires or somehow because Priests were not allowed to marry they attracted a certain type of person who had these screwed up qualities already inside then and then being around a bunch of children it all came out

Fr Benedict Groeschel should be excommunicated

Either way it’s revolting and Friar Benedict Groeschel should be excommunicated for his remarks. What Friar Groeschel said just proves my point about the people the leadership of the Catholic Church attracts.

Look I know not all of the people connected with the Catholic Church are bad so don’t send any hate mail but you to have admit there is a big problem that has been going for all too many years.

Benedict Groeschel, of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, said that teens oftentimes act as seducers in some sexual abuse cases involving priests and that the priests are not to blame. He even expressed feeling sorry for Jerry Sandusky.

His interview had been pulled off the National Catholic Register website and they have released a statement distancing themselves but here are some highlights of Fr. Groeschel’s interview.

People have this picture in their minds of a person planning to – a psychopath. But that’s not the case. Suppose you have a man having a nervous breakdown, and a youngster comes after him. A lot of the cases, the youngster – 14, 16, 18 – is the seducer. … It’s not so hard to see – a kid looking for a father and didn’t have his own – and they won’t be planning to get into heavy-duty sex, but almost romantic, embracing, kissing, perhaps sleeping but not having intercourse or anything like that.

It’s an understandable thing … there are the relatively rare cases where a priest is involved in a homosexual way with a minor .

If you go back 10 or 15 years ago with different sexual difficulties — except for rape or violence — it was very rarely brought as a civil crime. Nobody thought of it that way… And I’m inclined to think, on [a priest’s] first offense, they should not go to jail because their intention was not committing a crime

And in his defense of disgraced pedophile Jerry Sandusky the once famed Friar said,

Here’s this poor guy – [Jerry] Sandusky – it went on for years. Interesting: Why didn’t anyone say anything? Apparently, a number of kids knew about it and didn’t break the ice. Well, you know, until recent years, people did not register in their minds that it was a crime. It was a moral failure, scandalous; but they didn’t think of it in terms of legal things.

The interview is gone and in it’s place are 3 apologies from the National Catholic Register.

Here is the first one is from Friar Groeschel himself,

I apologize for my comments. I did not intend to blame the victim. A priest (or anyone else) who abuses a minor is always wrong and is always responsible. My mind and my way of expressing myself are not as clear as they used to be. I have spent my life trying to help others the best that I could. I deeply regret any harm I have caused to anyone.

His mind isn’t as clear? PuhLeeze – are you kidding me. He went into detail and he said what he felt and Fr Benedict Groeschel should be excommunicated for remarks.

Joe Zwilling, a spokesman for the New York Archdiocese, said that the comments cannot go unchallenged and I wholeheartedly agree.

Who knows if the famed Friar has had any of these “relationships” that he seems to think is OK. His remarks may have opened up old wounds and people may come forward. If there are any victims, I do hope they will find the courage to speak out and if he has had any of the relationship that he thinks are OK, then he should be sitting with Sandusky in the slammer.

There are supporters who continue to defend his outrageous remarks which is truly mind boggling and reaffirms my decision to drift away since something is not quite right with the Catholic Church and hasn’t been for ages.