Welcome to the CORPUS Blog. CORPUS is a faith community affirming and rooted in a revitalized church including an inclusive priestly ministry. Please visit our web site: www.corpus.org Our Blog will be a portal to news, articles and resources enabling you to keep up-to-date in the Catholic Reform process.
Saturday, June 3, 2023
We can have both: Due process for accused priests and justice for sex abuse survivors
We can have both: Due process for accused priests and justice for sex abuse survivors
(CNS photo/Tyler Orsburn)
The firestorm of accusations against priests of the sexual abuse of minors has created the suspicion, often fueled by the media, that any priest against whom allegations are made is guilty. The tremendous damage that has been perpetrated against the many victims in the sexual abuse crisis cannot be underestimated, nor can we underestimate what the church needs to do to make whole those who have been so horrendously hurt by members of the clergy. But it is important that safeguards for due process for those accused of abuse be honored, even as we work toward guaranteeing the safety of all members of the church.
A disturbing statistic from the recent National Study of Catholic Priests, undertaken by the Catholic Project of the Catholic University of America, shows the lack of trust in due process protections for priests accused of sexual abuse. In that survey, 82 percent of all priests said they regularly fear being falsely accused of sexual abuse, and only 36 percent of diocesan priests believed that they would be provided with sufficient resources by their dioceses to defend themselves in court should an allegation be made. (Researchers contacted 10,000 Catholic priests, of whom 3,516 responded, and conducted further interviews with more than 100.)
“Many diocesan priests in particular fear they will not be adequately supported by their dioceses and bishops in the case of a false accusation.”
Friday, June 2, 2023
This spring, remember what it’s like to feel joy
This spring, remember what it’s like to feel joy
Photo by Anders Jildén, courtesy of Unsplash.A Reflection for the Memorial of St. Justin, martyr
Find today’s readings here.
How beautiful are all his works!
even to the spark and fleeting vision!
The universe lives and abides forever;
to meet each need, each creature is preserved.
All of them differ, one from another,
yet none of them has he made in vain,
For each in turn, as it comes, is good;
can one ever see enough of their splendor? (Sir 42:22-25)
It’s that time of the year again: Twitter is remembering what it’s like to feel joy.
It is as true a harbinger of the spring as blooming flowers or late sunsets. Each year, my social media timeline fills up with pithy observations about everyone’s first few days of spring weather. People realize that they aren’t miserable in their jobs after all (or, at least, they can stop fixating on that for the next few months). Friendships heal. Laughter resumes. A contented appreciation for life on Earth settles over us again.
For me, this transition also requires a dramatic shift in my music taste. Everything gets a little brighter and more hopeful. I can’t stomach the sad, gloomy songs that sustained me earlier in the year. The appreciation for life permeates my entire outlook on life, and I return to music that reflects it.
One such song is “Oh, What A World”by Kasey Musgraves. I’ve been listening to it a lot recently. It’s a song about wonder, where the artist marvels about all the things that seem “too good to be true” in our everyday lives, from plants and animals to love shared between people. A couple of my friends are also fans of this particular album (“Golden Hour,” 2018’s Album of the Year), and we agreed that “Oh, What A World” evokes this same sense of wonder in us.
We didn’t do anything to earn this world. Most days we do not deserve it. But its beauty is there for us anyway. Like so much in life, it is a gift.
The ‘Succession’ finale showed what the world looks like without God
The ‘Succession’ finale showed what the world looks like without God.
Jeremy Strong, Sarah Snook, Kieran Culkin in the final episode of ‘Succession’ (photo: Sarah Shatz/HBO)Am I the only person in the world who got to the end of “Succession” and wanted a happy ending? I know, why would you even want those three awful children and their dimwitted older brother to somehow overcome every horrible thing they had said and done for four seasons? Before this season, I found the show totally unwatchable for its lack of a single likable character.
Now I think what I found most uncomfortable over the course of the series was the characters’ lack of self-respect. Their need to win the approval of their father, after he stripped them of their dignity again and again, felt pathetic. Each season would end with some new power arrangement and one or more of the three children trying to seize some autonomy for themselves. But then Daddy would come a-calling with promises of their future glory and they would get pulled right back into the nightmare he created for them.
Am I the only person in the world who got to the end of “Succession” and wanted a happy ending?
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