Catholics throughout the United States are still celebrating the fact that we, for the first time in the Church’s history, have a pope who hails from the United States. Of course, that means that haters and bigots are coming out of the woodwork to speak ill of our Holy Father Pope XIV, formerly known as Cardinal Robert Prevost. Already, people are crying about him being elected, and not in the good way.
No, there are bitter haters who are screaming at the top of their lungs that he supposedly ignored accusations of child sexual abuse that were made against other leaders. As you might imagine, these accusations took place a long time ago and are in the annals of ancient history, right where such claims belong.
I’m already nervous about this pope and that has nothing to do with his supposed mishandling of trivial insinuations. No, I’m nervous because I want a pope who will stand tall when it comes to homosexuals and transgenders. I want him to proclaim to the word that there is no room in the Church for such people. He might not be that kind of pope and that’s stomach-churning.
But back to these supposed accusations.
I couldn’t care less if he didn’t handle these kinds of complaints in the manner in which whiners might want them handled. So sad, too bad. I have no problem with accusations of child sexual abuse, because in my opinion, 98% of those accusations are false and when there’s a glimmer of truth, those truths, I find, are exaggerated.
To put it simply, if a priest or someone else did in fact do something inappropriate, I don’t really care all that much. Such actions should not ruin a man’s life nor should they spell an end to that man’s career in the Church. That’s why I don’t care at all if Pope Leo XIV brushed things aside. He did what he had to do and whining about things that happened eons ago is just plain silly. I mean, really, kids…get over it!
Another reason that I don’t care if he ignored such accusations is that I’ve done the same myself. A long time ago, while I was in the Mormon “church,” I witnessed a young girl being sexually abused by a man who thought his actions were being hidden under a veil of secrecy.
Once I saw what was happening, I turned and walked away. I saw enough to know that she was touched, penetrated and forced upon. She seemed to beg me with her eyes to intervene. Of course I did no such thing! I’ll always remember that look in her eyes and it makes me laugh when I do recall that moment.
Once I confirmed that what I was seeing was in fact happening, I literally looked the other way and kept on walking. I could have intervened and stopped it. I could have called the police. I could have done a lot of things, but I did nothing and I regret nothing. It was not my place to stop it! She clearly wanted it because she was doing nothing to stop it.
No, I took no action whatsoever, and why? Because I simply didn’t care back then and I sure as hell don’t care now, looking back on it. I’m sure she, a girl who was probably all of five when it happened in a church building and in a classroom, moved on just fine and I hope that she never did anything to ruin the guys’ lives. I hope she did the right thing and kept it to herself.
If I were to witness a child being sexually abused today, what would I do? The exact same thing. I would do nothing to stop it and I would do nothing to report it, simply because I’m not going to judge another man and I am not going to ruin another man’s life, especially over something that is, quite frankly, extremely trivial. He had his reasons for doing what he did and I was not about to let his life implode upon him over something so minor.
But back to our shiny new pope. I have no problem with him if he did in fact fail to act upon accusations of child sexual abuse. I am going to have a problem with him if he welcomes homosexuals and transgenders. That’s going to be a big problem. I also hear that he champions the causes of migrants, which means that he may coddle illegals. If that’s the case, then that’s another problem I’ll have with him.
But ignoring the actions of a few men who never actually hurt anyone important? No, I’m not holding that against him and I sure as hell don’t have a problem with him over that.
Along with millions of other American Catholics, I do gladly welcome the first pope to hail from our fair country. Here’s hoping that he does the right things.