When "gay marriage" came by judicial fiat, I grimly found a silver lining in thinking that all the homosexual priests (and I assure you, as a former seminarian and longtime parish employee, that there are more than you want to think, because there were more than I wanted to think) could now out themselves and get the Hell outta the Church.
Unfortunately it seems they want to stick around and either make the Church "change" or just burn Her down.
"The diocese added that “the matter at hand does not involve any conduct with a minor, any physical contact with any person (sexual or otherwise), or any criminal activity whatsoever.”
Kudos to the lawyer who wrote this. It has the appearance of a strong denial but does not actually deny the accusations and is consistent them since they didn't involve physical contact or, likely, criminal activity.
I'm grateful that the Pillar is publishing articles like this and that one of the former seminarians was willing to go on the record. I believe we are almost totally reliant on public, extra-hierarchical pressure to promote any sort of accountability within the Church, so the more of this, the better.
I see in this story something I see under the surface of a lot of Catholic scandals: Christianity is all about forgiveness, but there also seems to be a strong intuition that any kind of public disclosure of sin is a cruel and unusual punishment that violates every idea of Christian mercy. So we get... secret forgiveness. Not good!
So sad. It seems appropriate lessons have not been learned from the McCarrick situation- if I’m remembering right, until the child abuse allegations came to light, what everyone ignored was the “inappropriate behavior” McCarrick exhibited with seminarians. The type of behavior alleged in Cleveland seems disturbing close in kind. Prayers for all involved
Keep covering up crimes on the premise that if prosecution takes place the Church won't attract more men into the priesthood. This is very disturbing and it's happening too often and everywhere.
Just another example of predators getting away with it because the victim isn’t a minor. All they care about is their precious reputation whether they’re the Diocese of Cleveland or a religious order like the Redemptorists. Screw the victim. I post from personal experience.
JD and Ed, I find this reporting to be very one-sided and not your usual deep dig. Full disclosure: I'm a permanent deacon in Cleveland and the father of a son studying for the priesthood at Borromeo. I've read the Pillar regularly and have found your time and attention given to a story very in depth. However, this article seems to tell one side of a story. It does not reflect the excellent formation my son has received nor does it reflect the culture of Borromeo that I have observed. And neither does it reflect the excellent priests that have been formed and sent into ministry over the last years. Instead your focus on one criminal and one predator paints all these fine young men in the same brush. Seems to me had you taken the time to reach out to any of the 50+ men at Borromeo or St. Mary's or reach out to any of the many recently ordained priests, you probably could have gotten a better and truer picture of the culture there.
These scandals continue to tear at the heart of the Church. The evil, sickness, and rot fester unabated, while Rome ignores the sinfulness and instead focuses on synods on synodality. If I didn't belong to a faithful parish where I can go to adoration, attend Mass that is reverently offered, and receive the Eucharist, I would feel completely cut off from the source of my faith, and I'd have lost my soul and my sanity decades ago.
Thank you so much for reporting on this. The Pillar is a necessary voice. I experienced Father Cosgrove when he was at another local church in the Cleveland area. Seemed like a young man who was devoted but just a bit off. He was always trying to make jokes unsuccessfully. If you watch the announcement in the link, you'll see him compare himself to a local sports figure benched by an injury. He doesn't sound like he is being serious at that point, and it is very difficult for be to buy the story that he has made the decision voluntarily after thought and reflection.
Trying to find a silver lining in this sordid and sad story, I consider that the Church moved at warp speed in this case... if we remember how, in the past, individuals like Cosgrove would be allowed to stay as clergy and, given time, escalate their abuse of authority from shenanigans such as these to more horrendous crimes.
1. Thank you for reporting! Sometimes I feel that, hidden behind lawyers and far from pastoral concerns, Church authorities act at different speeds on issues that become public knowledge vs. those that do not see the light of day.
2. I find it unacceptable in this day and age that the Seminary does not act as a filter to weed-out individuals that are not suited to the priesthood, whether we are talking of Cosgrove (who admittedly "discerned" that it was not for him after this scandal broke) or that pig McWilliams you also reported on.
"How long, O Lord, how long?"
When "gay marriage" came by judicial fiat, I grimly found a silver lining in thinking that all the homosexual priests (and I assure you, as a former seminarian and longtime parish employee, that there are more than you want to think, because there were more than I wanted to think) could now out themselves and get the Hell outta the Church.
Unfortunately it seems they want to stick around and either make the Church "change" or just burn Her down.
"The diocese added that “the matter at hand does not involve any conduct with a minor, any physical contact with any person (sexual or otherwise), or any criminal activity whatsoever.”
Kudos to the lawyer who wrote this. It has the appearance of a strong denial but does not actually deny the accusations and is consistent them since they didn't involve physical contact or, likely, criminal activity.
Why does a seminary in Cleveland have a swimming pool? I’d love to read the story behind how that got built.
I'm grateful that the Pillar is publishing articles like this and that one of the former seminarians was willing to go on the record. I believe we are almost totally reliant on public, extra-hierarchical pressure to promote any sort of accountability within the Church, so the more of this, the better.
I see in this story something I see under the surface of a lot of Catholic scandals: Christianity is all about forgiveness, but there also seems to be a strong intuition that any kind of public disclosure of sin is a cruel and unusual punishment that violates every idea of Christian mercy. So we get... secret forgiveness. Not good!
So sad. It seems appropriate lessons have not been learned from the McCarrick situation- if I’m remembering right, until the child abuse allegations came to light, what everyone ignored was the “inappropriate behavior” McCarrick exhibited with seminarians. The type of behavior alleged in Cleveland seems disturbing close in kind. Prayers for all involved
Lord, bring to light all these horrible sins so we can stop repeating these awful stories over and over.
Keep covering up crimes on the premise that if prosecution takes place the Church won't attract more men into the priesthood. This is very disturbing and it's happening too often and everywhere.
Just another example of predators getting away with it because the victim isn’t a minor. All they care about is their precious reputation whether they’re the Diocese of Cleveland or a religious order like the Redemptorists. Screw the victim. I post from personal experience.
JD and Ed, I find this reporting to be very one-sided and not your usual deep dig. Full disclosure: I'm a permanent deacon in Cleveland and the father of a son studying for the priesthood at Borromeo. I've read the Pillar regularly and have found your time and attention given to a story very in depth. However, this article seems to tell one side of a story. It does not reflect the excellent formation my son has received nor does it reflect the culture of Borromeo that I have observed. And neither does it reflect the excellent priests that have been formed and sent into ministry over the last years. Instead your focus on one criminal and one predator paints all these fine young men in the same brush. Seems to me had you taken the time to reach out to any of the 50+ men at Borromeo or St. Mary's or reach out to any of the many recently ordained priests, you probably could have gotten a better and truer picture of the culture there.
These scandals continue to tear at the heart of the Church. The evil, sickness, and rot fester unabated, while Rome ignores the sinfulness and instead focuses on synods on synodality. If I didn't belong to a faithful parish where I can go to adoration, attend Mass that is reverently offered, and receive the Eucharist, I would feel completely cut off from the source of my faith, and I'd have lost my soul and my sanity decades ago.
Thank you so much for reporting on this. The Pillar is a necessary voice. I experienced Father Cosgrove when he was at another local church in the Cleveland area. Seemed like a young man who was devoted but just a bit off. He was always trying to make jokes unsuccessfully. If you watch the announcement in the link, you'll see him compare himself to a local sports figure benched by an injury. He doesn't sound like he is being serious at that point, and it is very difficult for be to buy the story that he has made the decision voluntarily after thought and reflection.
Trying to find a silver lining in this sordid and sad story, I consider that the Church moved at warp speed in this case... if we remember how, in the past, individuals like Cosgrove would be allowed to stay as clergy and, given time, escalate their abuse of authority from shenanigans such as these to more horrendous crimes.
1. Thank you for reporting! Sometimes I feel that, hidden behind lawyers and far from pastoral concerns, Church authorities act at different speeds on issues that become public knowledge vs. those that do not see the light of day.
2. I find it unacceptable in this day and age that the Seminary does not act as a filter to weed-out individuals that are not suited to the priesthood, whether we are talking of Cosgrove (who admittedly "discerned" that it was not for him after this scandal broke) or that pig McWilliams you also reported on.