extreme Catholic 

The Church when it has sovereignity over all of Rome had Castel Sant'Angelo, a prison into which it could place criminals convicted of crimes in the Papal States.

There were also place monasteries and convents which offered to those who chose to live a penitential life. This is the origin of phrase "get thee to a nunnery" as Hamlet instructed Ophelia.

But there didn't seem to be a twentieth century solution until now. Money, or if you prefer greed is the motivator. The leverage is financial support from the Archdiocese if you agree to take up residence at the Trinity Retreat House (Club Trinity).

NY Archdiocese tells suspect priests: leave or enter program : AP

NEW YORK (AP) _ New York priests suspected of sexually abusing children but protected from expulsion by Catholic law are being required to enter a lifelong supervision program or leave the church, according to the New York Archdiocese.

Since June, seven priests have been presented with the choice, and five of the men have chosen to leave the priesthood, said Joseph Zwilling, a spokesman for Cardinal Edward Egan.

Of course, they mean accept laicization (in tabloidese -- defrocked) rather than excommunication or a forced conversion to a non-Catholic faith.

The details sound a bit like "house arrest" when they are allowed to leave the premises provided they log it.

There's a uncharacteristic candor in this statement by the spokesman for the Archdiocese:

"we have to find something to do with them"

I have a little problem understanding what point the critics are making by demanding that the Archdiocese do something more for the priests who decline this supervised program and lose the "lifetime security net" (the phrase the New York Times used) They don't suggest what other leverage the Archidiocese has over them. Like someone I knww, he just walked out of the rectory and never looked back.

By the way, where did defrock originate? Did Catholic priests ever wear frocks?

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 9:35 PM   Permalink  

Canada's only major Arctic petroglyph site -- a 1,500-year-old gallery of mysterious faces carved into a soapstone ridge on a tiny island off of Quebec's northern coast -- has been ransacked by vandals in what the region's top archeologist suspects was a religiously motivated attack by devout Christians from a nearby Inuit community...

Daniel Gendron, chief archeologist with the Inukjuak-based Avataq Cultural Institute, the key promoter of indigenous history and identity in Nunavik, said the latest vandalism at Qajartalik follows the pattern of previous attacks by members of what he called "a very strong movement" of conservative Christians in Kangiqsujuaq and several other Inuit communities in northern Quebec.

That mayor was quoted "Kangiqsujuaq's mayor, Mary Pilurtuut, said she hadn't been informed of fresh damage at the site and doubted "something religious" would have been involved." No representative of the Christians or conservative Christians was contacted.

The story implies that the motive for the vandalism is the characteristic superstition and hatred of antiquity that is intrinsic to devout Christian behavior.

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 9:08 PM   Permalink