I never cease to be amazed by the chutzpah shown by Roman Catholic apologists. They simply cannot admit their own Church has any faults. They’re so pathological about it, that no excuse is too outrageous for them to make in order to relieve their clergy and hierarchy of any responsibility for the massive worldwide scandal that’s swallowing it up.
One agent they’ve blamed for it, consistently and repeatedly, is “the Devil.” “The Devil” has been blamed for the scandal itself in different ways, and it’s even been claimed that “the Devil” lurking inside the victims literally forced priests to abuse them. The latest example of this comes from the sanctimonious Bill Donhohue of the Catholic League (WebCite cached article):
When we read that a cardinal asked young seminarians to sleep with him, thus corrupting them before they became ordained, and when we read that a few Pennsylvania priests used sacred objects like the crucifix to molest their victims, we cannot plausibly say that this is simply the work of men gone bad. No, it is the work of the devil. What other source would provoke such monstrosities?
“What other source,” Billie? You’re seriously asking that? I can think of a truly obvious one: Criminality! That’s the source of the abuse … as well as of the priest shuffling and other cover-up strategies the hierarchs have used to keep it quiet.
Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons.
Hat tip: Friendly Atheist.