Man Up, Bishop Burbidge! We Need Leadership, Not Counseling

See any "due process" here?  

The September 6-12 issue of the Arlington Catholic Herald has the headline:  Bishop Burbidge reacts to letter from archbishop

This grabbed my attention, though I have long ago stopped reading this useless liberal publication.   

The headline continues:  He urges unity among Catholics and a search for truth in wake of misconduct allegations

An article follows written by Staff Writer, Zoey Maraist, in which she quotes the bishop as having said this: 

“We need to review (this) letter carefully, comprehensively, thoroughly, and evidence needs to be given, but the bottom line is, we need to know the truth.  All the faithful need to hear the answers to the questions.  Cardinal DiNardo is asking the Holy Father to assist in putting into place the support we need to get those answers. 

“What I’m seeing happening within the Church, within the diocese and even among bishops is (division) --- people taking sides.  I think that’s the last thing we need in the Church right now.

“These are dark times --- we don’t need to compound it by being split.  Let’s have due process.  We need clarity but allow that to take place.  There’s no need to discredit or make judgments at this point.  Let’s follow that process.  Preserving the Body of Christ is critical during this Church crisis. 

“People ask me, ‘What can we do?”  We do the words of God, we grow closer to him and we try to make the Body of Christ stronger.  If anyone leaves the Body, the community is weaker.  If we are alienating ourselves from certain people within the Body, then we’re hurting it.  So pray for that grace to remain united as God’s family, as brothers and sisters in Christ.” (my emphasis added)

My head is spinning!!!!  I will say this, we are all “reacting” to the letter by Archbishop Vigano, but I’m not sure the first reaction of any of us would be a call to unity considering the people Bishop Burbidge wants us united with are total perverts of the worst kind.  The second part of the headline refers to a search for truth, suggesting the contents of the letter may not be true “in the wake of misconduct allegations.”  Misconduct?  Seriously, Bishop Burbidge?  What these men are being accused of falls into the level of sin so deep it is far beyond the slap on the wrist a simple act of “misconduct” would generate. 

If your course of action is to “review this letter, carefully, comprehensively, thoroughly”, what is it exactly we are looking for in this text?  Spelling errors?  A wrong date?  Some detail to throw out the whole blistering exposure of the raw corrupt wretchedness of many in the hierarchy in this country? 

How long must we wait for the now silent Pope to give his blessing for the formation of a fact finding commission to get to the bottom of it?  The last phrase, is one I loathe, because no one ever gets to the bottom of anything.  It’s the cleverest way of burying something, to say that’s your intention; because we all know, it simply never happens.  In the meantime, they will say, “the team is working diligently to find answers.” 

Yes, we are taking sides, Bishop Burbidge.  We are not sitting the fence on this one, because Archbishop Vigano is a man of integrity.  He holds a long reputation of faithfulness to the Church.  He is risking his very life by releasing this letter.  Does the Black Friar’s bridge ring a bell?  People who blow the whistle at this level have ended up mysteriously dead.  What matters most to Vigano is not the loss of his life, however, but the loss of his soul, should he die with these terrible crimes against so many on his conscience. 

Make no mistake, Bishop Burbidge, the Body of Christ is as holy as it ever was.  It is the men in it who are corrupt.  Christ tells us that if a part of our body offends us we are to cut it off.  St. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians, chapter 5 that we are not to associate with people who are leading immoral lives.  He wasn’t talking about people in the world.  He meant people inside the Body of Christ, the Church. 

Verses 11-12

11) You should not associate with any brother or sister who is sexually immoral, greedy, an idolater, a slanderer, a drunkard or a robber.  You should not even eat with such a person.

12) It is no concern of mine to judge those who are outside the fold.  It is your responsibility to judge those who are inside.  God will pass judgment on the outsiders.  Banish the evil person from your midst.”

Yes, Bishop Burbidge, we need to preserve the Church, but the best way of doing this is to get rid of the filth, the sexually deviant men who have acted immorally and robbed our young altar servers and seminarians of their good reputations and innocence.  According to St. Paul, the best way of preserving the Church is to get rid of these bad actors.  Your own call to “not alienate certain persons” sends a completely different message.