Nabi Sayeth: Blind Trust and Unquestioning Obedience are NOT Virtues!

We are called to be as wise as serpents and as gentle as doves. Evil churchmen can only commit their crimes and sins because of naive and foolish sheep. When the flock accept all kinds of scandalous acts in silence, they become enablers of the evil. It’s time to challenge heresy, irreverence, scandalous liturgies, violation of rights (like attempting to force Communion in the hand), etc. The faithful have a right to the authentic Catholic faith. It’s time to demand it! Share Nabi’s posts with others. Every diocese in the country needs a prophetic voice. Pray that the Lord raises up many Nabis! When we all cry out together, things will begin to change!

Nabi sayeth...BEWARE….If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck and swims like a duck, it may not be a duck….it may be a cover up! Those in the Church’s leadership who create cover ups need certain elements to be in place:

1. Unconditional (or complacent/lazy) TRUST. They need dumb, completely trusting sheep. They MUST have people who think at all times and in all situations, “Well, of course what the Cardinal says is true. He’s the Cardinal, a prince of the Church….why would I ever doubt him??”

2. A COMMUNITY of like-minded people. A majority of people who trust the hierarchy and who keep the lone questioning, suspecting sheep in line. After all, who wants to be the odd sheep out?

3. The delegation of trust, especially with regard to monitoring and accountability exclusively to the leadership. An attitude that says, “Whatever the Cardinal/Bishop says must be true, after all, he’s a bishop/Cardinal.” The hierarchy can never be trusted to monitor themselves. Ever. The ”secret” is their friend, your enemy.

4. Unquestioned obedience even when one sees or hears things that “just don’t seem right”: The changing of words in prayers at holy mass by “really cool” priests, never hearing during the sermon any of the Church’s teachings on topics such as abortion or LGBTQ issues, the proposal of needless renovations, are just a few examples of things that should let off bells and whistles in one’s head.

5. The dropping of healthy defenses and suspicions. Predators groom and grooming takes time. They consciously work at winning your trust by lowering your defenses. Uncle Teddy MCCarrick made his victims’ parents proud that he would pick their son to serve at the altar with him. They were honored that he would take their son alone to his New Jersey beach house. Predator clergy take all the time necessary to get the parent’s suspicions and defenses lowered so that they will allow their son to go on a vacation ALONE for a week with the pastor. One clergyman who was promoted to vicar and made a My Lord in the northern region did this several times in the not so distant past. Had he done this today, he would have been suspended IF caught.

6. A very tragic example of blind trust: Father Victor Frobas was appointed chaplain of the Catholic Boy Scouts of West Virginia by former Bishop Hodges. What a title for a priest who just luved boys. Right? This sick, morbid predator raped many unsuspecting children and teens and for many years. He was reported to the bishop. His punishment? He was transferred from parish to parish where his perverted behavior continued. When the heat was turned up he was transferred from diocese to diocese. And yes, all of this was covered up. Big bucks have been paid out to victims by the WV diocese, secretly, with many more yet to be paid.

And now a story of one of the biggest cover ups in WV history…

In the fall of 1986, then Bishop Schulte called an urgent meeting of all Catholic priests in the state. The meeting was to be held at the Minor seminary which the church owned back then at Vienna, WV. No priests were excused for any reason. As the meeting began several actors were at the front of the room near a podium: A middle-aged man in a business suit, a middle-aged clergyman neatly dressed in a clergy suit with French cuffs and Bishop Schulte.

The well-dressed laymen went to the microphone first and introduced himself as the attorney for the Archdiocese of New Orleans. He began by telling the priests, “Gentlemen, as we sit here there is a group of plaintiffs’ attorneys meeting in Dallas. Their sole purpose for meeting is to plan a strategy to sue the Catholic Church over clergy sexual abuse claims.” He painted a scenario that called for a “Circle the wagons”,  “Them vs. Us” strategy so that the Church might survive the imminent barrage of litigation.

Next, the well-dressed clergyman went to the microphone and introduced himself as the canon lawyer for the Archdiocese of New Orleans. He began by telling his audience how much he had loved to take his nephew to the ocean, pick the boy up and toss him into the water. “But”, he lamented, “those days are over.” He told us that clergymen must never hug, hold, kiss or even touch a child again. He pointed out that some children have vivid imaginations and may create things that never happened for attention-seeking purposes. He concluded by saying, “Once you are accused, expect the 60 minutes helicopter to be landing on your Church parking lot within thirty minutes. And even though you may be innocent of the accusations, you will be guilty in the eyes of the public.”

Finally, Bishop Schulte went to the microphone and after thanking his guests made a stunning announcement. He told his audience that on that day he would order his Chancellor, Father Bob Nash, to empty and destroy the contents of every priest’s personnel file. He was doing that because he trusted his priests and wanted to protect them.He thanked the priests for their work and all were dismissed. 

Only the Lord knows what was in those personnel files that day...how much evidence had been destroyed. I would imagine that Schulte was not the only bishop in the country or world who did the same. Stay tuned….