Thursday I posted on this blog. The title might have been  a bit misleading; it might be taken to suggest that I had been a victim of abuse. I have not. When I joined the church I was 39 years old. It was to happen in the spring of 1993 - new people usually receive the rites of initiation during the Easter vigil service - but in September of '92 I was advised by my doctor that I needed open-heart surgery and soon. Needless to say, that sped up the process considerably, although it wasn't as much as a hurry-up as it could have been. I had been attending the seminary of another denomination. I already could handle some biblical passage in Hebrew and in Greek; I already knew where Luther differed from Calvin who differed from Barth; I knew where Augustine and Aquinas differed. So during the afternoon of the last Saturday in September of 1992 I was baptized (I'd been baptized in another denomination, but the Catholic Church does not recognize that baptism), confirmed, received the anointing of the sick ("Viaticum"), and first Eucharist. There wasn't much else I could have done as far as receiving Sacraments; I was already married, which eliminated both getting married and receiving Holy Orders. I guess I could have gone quickly and sinned greatly so I could receive Reconciliation, but. . .no.

By the time I was received into the Church I was about six feet tall and about 250 pounds - about the size of an NFL linebacker. Not a tempting target even had the priests been so inclined. And they were not. Fr. Ressler - AKA Rocket Ressler; he got through Masses quicklike and in a hurry - and Fr. Osterhaus both understood celibacy for what it is. It's a gift of God to the Church, and an offering from the priests back to God. The two priests at the Church of the Nativity in Dubuque understood the vows and were faithful to them.

As are most priests.

In my previous blog I mentioned the primary and most obvious victims of the scandals - the kids. I forgot another big group of victims - the priests. The priests who must endure being painted with the same broad brush as the criminals.

The percentage of priests that engaged in abuse is a hard number to pin down, but a lot of the best estimates settle near the 4% figure. It indicates a problem, to be sure, and it's far higher than the percentage among the general populace. This may speak to inadequate screening of candidates. For those 4%, treatment should be the same as it is for anyone convicted of such a crime. In my opinion, the punishment for one convicted of child sexual abuse should be life. No parole. First offense. That's a subject for another posting. That should be the punishment for a priest, for a teacher, for anyone. Pedophiles don't age out of it, and they don't get better.

That broad-brush treatment means that we can't apologize enough to the other 96%, who know the vows they took and remained true to those vows. So, to priests, I apologize for leaving you off my last blog. You are victims of the animals as much as is anyone else.

Thanks for being around!