Brothers in Christ,
Let us begin, as a group of Disciples of Christ, to go forth and do His works.
The Three Eminent Good Works: PRAYER, FASTING and ALMSGIVING
THE CORPORAL WORKS OF MERCY The seven practices of Catholic charity towards our neighbor’s BODY
1.Feeding the hungry 2.Giving drink to the thirsty 3.Clothing the naked 4.Sheltering the homeless 5.Visiting the sick 6.Visiting the imprisoned 7.Burying the dead
THE SPIRITUAL WORKS OF MERCY The seven practices of the Catholic charity Toward our neighbor’s SOUL
1.Counseling the doubtful 2.Instructing the ignorant 3.Admonishing the sinner 4.Comforting the sorrowful 5.Forgiving injuries 6.Bearing wrongs patiently 7.Praying for the living and the dead
As discussed, we will be utilizing Colligo as the platform that keeps us Catholic Men bound together. An announcement is simply made. When viewing our Waukesha Catholic Men Group page, simply click on make an announcement, title the announcement with the type of work it is and place information in the comment section with what the need is and who to contact. This will allow any individual that's called by Jesus to go forth and serve Him. Gentlemen, please keep in mind that we are leaders of our families and it is our primary responsibility to show them the narrow path to the Kingdom of Heaven. Be sure they know exactly why we do the things we do and take them along, if possible, on the works we do. This allows them to be united with us in our works of mercy. Our works also provides the opportunity to share words of truth, as they have been revealed to us by our relationship with Jesus Christ and our understanding of His Catholic Church. Several of you have made me aware of works that you are already involved in. Please post an announcement on them to make us all aware of the opportunities we have to serve Jesus. The peace of our Lord be with you all.
How Can I Join a Church that Abuses Children and Covers It Up?
Recent revelations about Cardinal Theodore McCarrick’s scandalous behavior have brought the emotionally sensitive subject of the priest abuse scandal back into the limelight.
This scandal, as those revealed over the last couple of decades was not due only to the fact that children were abused, but that Catholic clergy who knew about the improprieties failed to report the cases to the police.
Combining other obstacles people have about the hypocrisy of believers, Christian teachings on sexual morality, and a suspicion of hierarchical religion, this one is indeed a mountain. And it is impossible to get around or over it. The only way is to drill a hole right through.
One Strategy: Explain the truth about the numbers of the abuse.
One strategy seeks to put the scope of the issue into perspective. The media coverage led many to think the numbers were far greater than they were.
In 2004, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops commissioned John Jay College of Criminal Justice of the City University of New York to conduct a study analyzing allegations of sexual abuse in Catholic dioceses in United States. The study covered the time period from 1950 to 2002.
The final report identified 6,700 unique accusations against 4,392 clergy, or four percent of the 109,694 clergy active during the period. Of those accused, only 252 were convicted, which is less than six percent of those accused and less than one-tenth of a percent of the total clergy.
To be sure, even these numbers are too many. But they do show that the scope of the scandal, despite the coverage it received, was very small—surely too small to be a basis for rejecting the Church completely.
It’s also important to point out that this kind of problem is not confined to the Catholic Church. It is found among Protestant clergy as well. In his book Pedophiles and Priests, Philip Jenkins, a Protestant who is an expert in the study of pedophilia, writes,
“The most-quoted survey of sexual problems among Protestant clergy states that some ten percent are involved in sexual misconduct of some kind, and that ‘about two or three percent’ are pedophiles, a rate equal or higher than that suggested for Catholic priests. These figures should be viewed skeptically; the methodology on which they are based is not clear, and they seem to rely disproportionately on individuals already in therapy. However, it is striking to find such a relatively high number suggested for both celibate and non-celibate clergy.”
Sexual abuse is not only found within the boundaries of Christianity. It is a problem in virtually all settings where adults have care of minors. Consider, for example, the 2014 scandal concerning USA swimming coaches, ninety of whom were banned for sexual misconduct. In January of 2018 Larry Nassar, former doctor for USA women’s gymnastics team doctor and sports medicine physician at Michigan State University, was sentenced to 175 years in prison for sexually abusing over 150 women over the past two decades of his practice.
The sexual abuse of children is a horrible crime and it needs to stop. There is no other person that a child should feel safer with than a person who represents Jesus Christ. But to think this is solely or conspicuously a Catholic problem, which is the narrative the media created, is simply not true.
Michael Jeske
Earlier this month I attended a talk on Human trafficking. The information is disturbing. Every county in Wisconsin has documented human trafficking. 75% takes palace in the greater Milwaukee area. Franciscan Peacemakers are selling items at the Waukesha farmer's market on saturdays to help sex trafficking victims. They need volunteers to help. Contact Deb Reuland at 262-352-0285 or debbiereuland@gmail.com