Et Tu, Shawn Tribe?

Does the rank-closing and defensiveness of conservative Catholics know no bounds of decency?

I had been very impressed by New Liturgical Movement's restraint over the whole crisis; for some time they didn't mention it. They are, after all, a liturgical blog, not generic Catholic commentary. Shawn Tribe even alludes to that when he says:

In the end, I determined that likely more than enough commentary could be found on any number of sites and perhaps there was something to be said for some calm and "business as usual" as a form of respite.

But then he publishes this reflection (at least he promises it will be the only one) called, rather blasphemously I think, "the Passion of Pope Benedict XVI," as if the Pope's "sufferings" at the hands of his "detractors" are to be spun as the unjust sufferings of a Christ figure! And Archbishop Dolan has recently been throwing around "crucifixion" language too in regard to this crisis! And apparently received a standing ovation!

Are these people all that delusional? Is their loyalty-instinct to portray the institution in the best light possible really that exaggerated?!?

However much or little personal culpability can be attributed to his negligence, the fact is he oversees an organization, and when something like this happens in any other organization, leaders take the fall. When you're the head of an organization, you represent and are responsible for those below you, regardless of personal innocence.

I'm not saying I want the Pope to resign. But the fact that the possibility is being totally dismissed as if it is out of the question, the way this is all being spun as "anti-Catholic" persecution, the way the Pope defiantly speaks of "not being intimidated" rather than expressing constant public contrition and penance...shows just how arrogant and out of touch these people are.

It should be recognized that, even if the Pope doesn't resign (and I don't expect nor want him to), this is definitely the magnitude of situation where that would be one appropriate response. There are others, and I hope he rather stays on and chooses one of those (for he remains an ideological ally, for better or worse). But if this isn't the kind of situation that calls for at least seriously considering papal resignation as one option...then nothing is. Then the inclusion of the possibility in canon law is just a joke. The way it is being dismissed off-hand as "ridiculous" shows that they still don't get it.

Personally innocent or not, the Vatican's insolent attempts at spin and the stone-faced way the Pope is going about business as usual...are just audacious. Staying the course like that is ruining the Church's credibility. So much for avoiding "scandal" for the sake of the Church, now it's all denial and defensiveness and face-saving.

Children were sexually molested by the glorified on-a-pedestal holier-than-thou bureaucrats put in charge of their souls by an organization that exists only for the purpose of salvation!! And the managers in charge of disciplining those perverts chose instead to cover it up!! And people have the gall to concentrate on the sufferings, not of the children, not of the tens of thousands of innocence-shattered permanently scarred lives, but rather of the negligent weaselly executives of that organization, and then compare that "suffering" to Christ's?!? I think I'm going to go vomit.

If people want to make that comparison to Christ, and if the Pope wants to show his contrition and keep his job, then maybe he should do what King Henry II did after the whole Becket affair and submit to being publicly whipped! If people want to claim that he's being "attacked" and "suffering," then I want to see some blood and real tears! They're making a martyr of him because some people have said some mean things, because he's losing some popularity or because his feelings might be hurt!? Oh, poor baby. It is just laughable compared to the psychological trauma and sufferings of the victims of sexual abuse.