Letters: Hope for church leaders’ ‘harsh judgment’ after bankruptcy; Disgraceful Democratic debate

Hope for church leaders’ ‘harsh judgment’ after bankruptcy

Among the ironies of the Diocese of Harrisburg’s recent filing for bankruptcy is the implicit acknowledgment by church leaders that the principles of faith they’ve been teaching for generations have to them been little more than idle ramblings and empty promises.

As the grand jury reports in 2016 and 2018 have made heartbreakingly plain, the Catholic Church for decades has been practicing a sort of spiritual anarchy, advocating moderation and sexual abstinence to its parishioners while camouflaging among its clergy the most reprehensible and decadent moral aberrations imaginable — the brutal sexual violations and systemic corruption of children, the spiritual distress and emotional wreckage of young lives placed in forfeit as a means of enabling their priests’ profane erotic gratification.

In petitioning the courts to safeguard diocesan assets while seeking protection from their punitive liabilities, the church again attempts to weather the storm of public outrage and elude responsibility for their crimes, in the process disregarding their own notions of confession, contrition, penance and absolution, and instead expecting to blatantly skip itself directly from atrocity to exoneration.

As the church leaders continue to elude their moral responsibilities by manipulating the laws of society and exploiting the bankruptcy courts to escape punishment for their crimes, one can only hope — and yes, pray — that they at least are tormented by the sacred oaths they violated, and by their own professed belief: That ultimately they’ll face harsh judgment indeed ... not from the trusting communities they mocked with their hypocrisy, but by the divine authority they purported to represent.

Dems should focus more on Trump, less on Bloomberg

The Democratic candidates’ debate in Las Vegas centered more on attacks on Mayor Bloomberg than on constructive ways to oppose Trump’s chances of reelection. Bloomberg expressed willingness to financially assist the Democratic nominee. His generous contributions toward gun control and climate policy are worthy of appreciation. Elizabeth Warren is guilty of diminishing the unity of the Democratic party and advancing Trump’s power.

Unresolved items after end of Penn State, Paterno conflict

PennLive’s “Aftershocks of Sandusky case continue, derailing career of prosecutor Frank Fina” (Feb. 20) says that Fina’s suspension from the practice of law places a “ ... major asterisk on the back half of the Sandusky case: the prosecutions of Spanier, Curley and Schultz.” Penn State’s Board of Trustees meanwhile stipulated (Feb. 21) “Many of those reports and statements, including the Freeh Report, contain opinions about individuals and matters that are not shared by the University.” This comes across as a polite repudiation of then-Board Chair Karen Peetz’s statement (July 2012) that Penn State accepted the findings of the Freeh Report including its assessment of Joe Paterno, as well as repudiation of other controversial statements by the board in 2012.

The board’s statement has therefore ended more than eight years of conflict between itself and a good part of the university community, but these developments still leave a couple of unresolved action items. First, the “asterisk” on the Sandusky case suggests that the guilty pleas of Tim Curley and Gary Schultz should be vacated and, if legally feasible, their legal fees reimbursed. Second, Attorney General Josh Shapiro has also acquired, as I see it, a “major asterisk” after his name by trying to reinstate Graham Spanier’s conviction despite the question marks all over the entire case. Pennsylvania voters should therefore not entrust Shapiro with another term as Attorney General.

Disgraceful Democratic debate

Just when we thought that our president had a monopoly on attacking his critics or opponents, and when we hoped for the Democratic candidates to give him a lesson in civility, practically all of them tore into each other, and especially into the newcomer Bloomberg, accusing them of all the wrongdoings they could think of. The only meaningful statement I heard all evening was Bloomberg’s, when he said “ if anybody wanted to guarantee Donald Trump’s reelection, all he or she had to do is to get as many voters as possible to watch the debate.”