On Politics 5/10/09: The Sinful Politics Of the Church

The Mother's Day Mass at St. Denis Church was delightfully well done. The homily regarding what Mother's Day meant to the priest was insightful, personal, and poignant. The cantor was terrific, especially so during a post-Communion rendering of "Ave Maria", utilizing her amazing voice to entrance the attendees through the sheer power of the instrument. The blessing of all the mothers, asked to stand for identification and acknowledgement, then each presented with a single red rose from the parish, was a perfect ending to the event. All in all, one of the better hours recently spent in the pews. Even the typically horrific children's choir was almost endurable; almost.

Surprisingly, we were asked to all remain seated at the conclusion of the rose dispersal. The priest said he had another brief announcement that had to be given. What, after this all-to-rare enjoyable service, could this be? Some other recognition or moment in praise of mothers?

Not in this lifetime.

We were subsequently treated to a series of instructions / requests / directions, loosely referred to as something for our awareness as Catholics, about the Church's opposition to the so-called Markey law being proposed in New York State . For those who do not know, this piece of legislation is about extending the current statue of limitations for those victimized by clergy and other members of non-profit organizations to seek financial redress. Fr. Tom, the weekend associate celebrating the Mass, gave us the nuts and bolts about how wrong touching the altar servers was, and that we should know this would be unfair to all organizations, including the Church, so all good communicants should be outraged at this possibility. Why, the Church has even made it easier for you to protest, by simply clicking on an icon on the web site, where you will be able to fill in a form and send it on. It's so easy; even the evil legislator's address information is done for you. I'm not sure if they include emoticons with horns and a tail to attach to her picture, but it wouldn't surprise me.

As once famously stated, when they tell you it's not about the money, it's ALWAYS about the money. Is there anyone out there who cannot see through the fog of incense or shower of holy water that this isn't about the money? What has the Church quaking in its' collective vestments is that their former patron saint of sacrilege in Albany, Mr. Bruno, is now out of power, where he cannot serve as the holy human roadblock against passage of this bill. Therefore, bereft of his assistance in denying the opportunity of compensation for the victims of pedophilia, the Church has chosen to strong-arm its' parishioners into a pseudo political action committee to stop the law from becoming a reality. Forget the speaking-in- tongues explanation being promoted from the pulpit about creating unfair precedent or the potential hardships if the bill is passed; the simple short unspoken reasoning was plain to hear. If this gets through, more people sue the Church, and more money will have to be paid out.

Reminder #1: IF THE PRIESTS HADN'T MOLESTED THE KIDS, THIS WOULDN'T BE A PROBLEM.

Reminder #2: IF YOU CAN'T DO THE TIME OR PAY FOR THE LAWSUITS, DON'T DO THE CRIME OR HIDE THE PEDOPHILES.

A beautiful Mass, a wondrous feeling in the building bought on by song and collective awareness of all that our mothers mean to us, for everything they do or have done, was tarnished, ruined, and horrifically dissipated by a plea to protect the Church from paying any more monies in lost lawsuits. How someone of leadership in the Archdiocese of New York (guilty until proven innocent, for this smacked of an official instruction) thought that it was appropriate to put this forth on Mother's Day showed an almost impossible to believe lack of sensitivity, or perhaps, more accurately, a blatant disregard for all else that was occurring in their parishes today, with the fear of further financial fallout being the overriding concern.

I believe the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother to us all, would herself have been appalled at this.