Showing God’s will
in this moment of “darkness”
To the editor,
I
read your profile of Stephen Brady [“Defender of the Faith” June 19], the Petersburg
businessman who has become the world’s most effective force in removing sexual
predators from the Catholic clergy, on the same day that the Catholic Bishops
of the United States were meeting in St. Louis for their semi-annual koffee
klatch and confab. I spent as much time as I could stand watching the public
portion of the proceedings on EWTN in the evening and couldn’t help drawing
the obvious contrast.
Steve Brady has read the Gospel,
recognizes corruption and models Christ in driving it out of the temple. Jesus
used the cut ends of donkey harnesses. Brady uses the Internet.
Place this alongside the behavior
of our Bishops, still in the buildup toward a leadership crisis they brought
on by systematic abandonment of truths of the Gospel. It is possibly the most
dangerous time for the Roman Catholic Church since before the Council of Trent
and our spiritual leaders spent the day posing with photogenic smiles and punctilious
observations of Roberts Rules of Order.
They engaged in pretty discussions
of abstruse committee documents, unmistakably aimed toward the further bureaucratization
of a Church fertilized by the blood of martyrs. Not all the bishops were so
oblivious. Bishop Bruskewitz of Nebraska rose to suggest that they might be
drifting from their duties and an older archbishop actually made a motion to
suspend the discussion “in light of the current situation.” Both were quickly
gaveled out of order. Then they went behind closed doors to further tweak a
public relations campaign designed to make us all feel better about homosexual
attacks on altar boys.
Pete Sherman’s article was one of
the best I’ve read about these matters. He took the novel journalistic approach
of making his highest priority an accurate representation of the subject. There
was none of the usual sneering condescension toward a traditional Christian
point of view and we see Stephen Brady as a person, with sufferings, regrets
and affections, even if he does stand for eternal values.
There are few faithful Catholics
with hearts so hardened that they haven’t begun to feel the pierce of the sword
as leaders are exposed as venal betrayers of all that is holy. It’s good to
know strong Catholic men still exist.
Thank you, Pete Sherman, for showing
us how God can use the least obvious instruments to do his will in these moments
of darkness.
Kent R. Steinkamp
Springfield
“Leaves a lot to be desired”
To Peter Sherman,
The
article you wrote about Steve Brady leaves a lot to be desired. Not only is
it written poorly from a journalistic standpoint, but the omissions of the profound
good this man has done are omitted [sic]. He has been extremely successful in
his endeavor to bring to light horrific situations with the clergy. It is only
through the media that the people know the truth. He has been able, thank God,
to bring this out to the public. You leave the reader with the impression that
Mr. Brady is just an idiot of some kind, spinning wheels in sand. He is a gift
and I thank him for his courage, persistence, and the good he has done. You
owe him an apology!
May God raise up many more Stephen
Bradys!!!
Jane McCaffrey
Kansas City, Missouri
A “sordid story”
Dear Editor,
After
reading the sordid story of the “Pizzaman from Petersburg,” I was reminded of
a character in a W.C. Fields movie: J. Pinkerton Snoopington.
Stephen Brady’s proclamation “We’re
in the business of destroying lives” says it all. This hyper-zealot was born
five centuries too late; back then he could have had a prominent role in the
Spanish Inquisition, perhaps as assistant grand inquisitor.
I am not defending the behavior
of the clergy he is going after, but a self-righteous, intolerant, angry ideologue
is far more dangerous than a gay priest any day.
Robert Waldmire
Springfield
This article appears in Jun 26 – Jul 2, 2003.
