Letter to the editor: Wallin Response

Letter to the Editor:
A few comments about Mr. O'Neill’s letter in response to mine about the condition of the Catholic church:

First I'll point out that at least 70% of my letter was quotes of others who know much more about the church and its crimes than most of us do. The rest was my interpretation of other things said mainly on that NPR program.

Of those I quoted, one is a Boston reporter, Resendes, who spent years uncovering the widespread rape of children by numerous priests and bishops in the Boston area and the Church protection of the priests with no concern for the hundreds of child victims.

Another is a lawyer, Garabedian, who has represented hundreds of victims of priestly rape.
Another was Neil Conan the moderator who created the National Public Radio show, Face The Nation, and another is the former governor of Oklahoma, Frank Keating - a Catholic and head of the "Catholic Review Board" formed in 2002 to investigate the crimes of the church.

Governor Keating, in resigning from the board in disgust after only a few months, compared the church with the Mafia and stated the church was a "model of a criminal organization" meaning that Church officials were doing everything they could to block the "independent" investigation. - to cover up until things cool down, until business can be resumed as usual, as it has been for centuries.
Mr. O’Neill questioned my motive for informing him of his church's criminal activities. He should call or write to Neil Conan instead. I'm just a middle man. He should talk to his clergy and demand reform. I think my motivation is about the same as Conan's - to inform in order to protect children. But Mr. O’Neill invented a motive, assigned it to me, and then criticized me for it. He is sure that I want to keep Catholics from going to their church! Not that wouldn't be a bad idea, but truth won't deter the real "faithful.",

Phony explanations and excuses from the clergy allow the faithful to ignore reality, refrain from thinking and ignore crimes - oh - and the welfare of children of course. Mr. O'Neill demonstrates the kind of thinking that the clergy wants him to think. It is good for clergy job security and continued pedophile activities.

I hope that pew people keep going to church. Instead of being the meek sheep they are expected to be, I hope they speak out and demand reform and quit donating to the hush money funds until there is real reform. The concern should be primarily for the children shouldn't it??? - your children, grandchildren and the children of strangers in other towns. Pew people have no power to change anything in the Catholic church other than to complain, withhold funding or to quit.

Why are the scandals not discussed at church services and why don't the pew people ask why this is? Are they afraid of their clergy? Do they think they have no power whatsoever in the way the church is run? Is it the clergy's church or the pew people's church? Looks to me it is the church and secretive club of the clergy who manipulate their faithful for sufficient hush money to remain out of prisons.
Not one fact in my letter was negated or even questioned by Mr. O'Neill. He did ask questions having nothing to do with the primary topic of child abuse. He obviously loves his church enough (most of his letter) to tolerate mass rape of children and the cover ups and to actually pay hush money to victims ($2 billion so far.) Most families of victims only find out decades later if ever.

How many Catholic pew people would be unconcerned enough to allow their child to be alone with a priest? I'd bet not many. What a large amount of hypocrisy and horrendous crimes must be ignored by the deluded faithful. It's not just "a few bad apples." Do you know of a single priest who tried to reform the church which is supposedly so important to him? There will never be any reform without a mass rebellion from pew people and infusion of women in to the priesthood. So it seems very likely that the Catholic Church is likely forever corrupt - as it has been for many centuries.

                Gary Wallin