I spent my day at the much dreaded Virtus training. The only thing I have good to say about it was that the facilitator and host parish were very nice. The only reason I went was because it was mandated. Through no fault of the host, it was a complete waste of my day. If I look at it differently, I am glad I went. Because I can now say with confidence that this is pure propaganda. Instead of punishing the parents by making us act as spies and private investigators, why not shift the blame back to the homosexual pedophile priests who caused this whole mess. The section of the video we were shown about the so-called "myths" was pure lies. Don't provide "myths" without backing it up with facts and proof from reliable sources. That was criminal to pin this on people who have nothing to do with the lawsuits and scandal. If it weren't for the facilitator, I would say this program would be void of Catholicism.(She had us listen to scripture/pray before beginning). No mention of the spiritual aspect, the intrinsic evil, the spiritual warfare for the souls of our children. Virtus is aimed at Catholics but is foreign to my Catholic ears and senses. Here is a quote and link regarding the statistics(Virtus taught in direct opposition to these studies):
Almost all the priests who abuse children are homosexuals. Dr. Thomas Plante, a
psychologist at Santa Clara University, found that “80 to 90% of all priests who
in fact abuse minors have sexually engaged with adolescent boys, not
prepubescent children. Thus, the teenager is more at risk than the young altar
boy or girls of any age.”[viii]
The situation in Boston, the epicenter
of the scandal, is even worse. According to the Boston Globe, “Of the clergy sex
abuse cases referred to prosecutors in Eastern Massachusetts, more than 90
percent involve male victims. And the most prominent Boston lawyers for alleged
victims of clergy sexual abuse have said that about 95 percent of their clients
are male.”[ix]
In a database analysis of reports on more than 1,200
alleged victims of priests identified by USA Today, 85 percent were males.[x] In
another study by USA Today, it was determined that of the 234 priests who have
been accused of sexual abuse of a minor while serving in the nation’s 10 largest
dioceses and archdioceses, 91 percent of their victims were males.[xi]
SEXUAL ABUSE IN SOCIAL CONTEXT:
CATHOLIC CLERGY AND OTHER PROFESSIONALS Some more propaganda images found in the video were liturgical abuse gone wild. Glass vessels, ribbon waving dancers approaching the altar and the hippie songs during a Mass. As far as my children being indoctrinated with this, we opted out and for good reason. I talk about things in the home and about dangers and I don't want someone else talking to my innocent children about sexual body parts without me being there. Thankfully our school allowed us to opt out.
What did this program do? I can tell you from the people there, it created paranoia, fear, mistrust and anger. That is not to say parents should not be guarded and vigilant in keeping their children safe. It was presented(in the video) as a non-spiritual and fear-driven concept that was not productive.
What bothered me the most about robbing me of my work day was that my mind wandered to the innocent, holy priests that have carried on amidst the scrutiny and mess the lawsuit in our diocese has caused. Since the names of the guilty priests(other than Earl Bierman) have never been released, it has been a cross for the innocent priests to carry on. I guess the secrecy was worth the 120+ ml. I'm glad its over. I will continue to protect my kids just as I have been for years. I am a professional at being over-protective and in their business. But they trust me and I respect and love them.
(I must stress that the host parish and facilitator were very good to us and respectful. That impressed me more than anything and made what was a loss of work more bearable.)
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