Thugs in Clerical Collars

From Andrew Sullivan, this statement from the spokesman for the dioceses of Derry, Fr. Michael Canny, in Ireland:

“There is no good in saying other than the truth. The church at this state has no credibility, no standing and no moral authority. The issue is now one of trust, and that is why it will take the rest of my lifetime as a priest to build up that trust again, because the trust and confidence in the church has been broken on a fundamental level."

Sullivan goes on to note:

And yet this perpetrator of a mass conspiracy to abuse and rape children, is now threatening in my own diocese to drop its charitable projects because DC is about to legalize marriage equality.

For the dioceses of Washington D.C. to hold the poor and homeless hostage in an effort to force a civil government to adopt its doctrine into law only points up the complete moral vacuum this institution has come to occupy.

It's not only going to take time, it's going to take a complete change in direction for the Church to recover what it has thrown away.