Silent Servants...
... of the Used, Abused, and Utterly Screwed Up.
A Secular Franciscan looks at the world...
with a more jaundiced eye than ever...
and lots of ellipses for you to fill in the missing text...
(with thanks to Thomas S. Klise for the title)
that the media is responsible for a great many of our ills. 
"The head of Vienna's Roman Catholic community ruled out sweeping changes demanded by dissident priests and said there could be "serious conflict" if they defied Church teaching on celibacy or give communion to remarried divorcees."An Anglican seminarian once quoted me in his thesis after a lengthy and involved conversation we had on the issue of modern communications and the Church. It may be the only thought I've ever had worth quoting as it didn't lead to the rejection of his thesis. In a nutshell (and certainly not worth quoting) instantaneous communications - even as they were in the early 1980s - are in a large part responsible for the current state of affairs in the Catholic Church, I believe. I won't bother going any further than that. My thoughts are never worth quoting anyway (so don't quote me)...
Irish priests reject suggestion that they break seal of confession
"As popular "celebrity priests" endure spectacular flameouts, Sinclair Lewis' story gives Catholics much to ponder about our own worldly sensibilities, God and man."Something that we all have to be aware of. It's not a Catholic thing particularly, it's a human thing...
this may well be a good idea...
who rely on the internet for their sources really need to go back to journalism school.
Legion Creates Commission for Maciel's Accusers: Names 2 Members to General Council
"The Catholic Church Is The Closet Of Gays", Colombian Priest Writes In His Book"Out of frustration at episcopal inaction, a priest of the Colombian archdiocese of Cali, has written a book on the ongoing homosexual scandals among priests of the archdiocese. "...especially the part about all these gay priests fathering children...
"Above all we are on the side of the victims and want to support their recovery and their offended rights."More of the church hierarchy should make statements like that...
"Catholic Church Investigating Powerful Order Wracked by Pedophilia Charges Against Founder Father Maciel"I think that the Legion would likely accept a 'commissioner'. They seem, despite their old extreme dependence on (and almost veneration of) their former leader, to lean toward supporting the Magesterium of the Church and so would most likely accept the decision of the Pope. It's not likely that the Pope would require them to change their focus and spirituality radically.
Does Catholic celibacy contribute to child sex abuse?"With the Roman Catholic Church facing a series of paedophilia scandals, some observers have begun to ask whether the tradition of celibacy in the priesthood has contributed to child abuse. The BBC's Paul Henley raises the question with Catholics in Cologne."Similarly, does teaching contribute to child sex abuse? Does being a member of the general population contribute to child sex abuse? Seeing as the rate of child sex abuse is the same, or higher, in these areas, as well as others, these, too, are fair questions.
