As originally printed, 4-8-10

Comments

1
Kudos, Paul. I wish more would do what you've done. Decrease in membership/revenue may be the only thing that finally causes some progression in the Catholic Church's dogma.
2
Check out www.cta-usa.org. We are church.
3
amen.
4
I couldn't have said it better myself. I appreciate your honesty and candor, more than you know. Also, I am sorry to hear about your dad, I'm sure he would be proud of you for your courage and moral standing.
5
great piece.
6
I'd like to be excommunicated as well.
7
This is the funniest and most amazingly gorgeous statement of anti-faith I have ever heard. I can only applaud Paul Constant's integrity and dedication to his own beliefs. We may not agree on the nature of the divine, Mr. Constant, but you are still a spiritual hero in my book (and a damn fine writer).
8
You are a stronger person than me. My father also recently passed away, a life long member of another conservative church. Had the reverend taken my father's memorial to preach against gay marriage, I would have walked right up to the podium and punched him in the face in front of the entire congregation.
9
Good for you Paul. You'll have to let us all know what, if anything, he writes in response.
10
What a beautifully written letter. My father is counted as a Catholic as well, but is an atheist (along with the rest of his living family, his parents were both Catholic). He would like nothing better than to be excommunicated, but unfortunately, from what i understand, the Catholic church doesn't grant those very often at all. So glad I wasn't baptized.
11
I believe that the God of the Bible is very real. I believe that He is the Devil. Read the Old Testament. God tells his followers to commit every possible atrocity and when He's not exhorting people to kill and rape, He's doing it himself.

Congratulations on freeing yourself from Satan.

Religion=War
12
Thank you for writing this, and well done, sir.
13
Just one question, Paul. What took you so long?
14
Yes, me too, me too. In re #13, it's clear Paul removed himself from the church long ago, but is asking for the public "excommunication" so the catholic engine can't continue to inflate its membership figures. I would guess the true numbers are less than half that. next step = tax the damn church, already. Sometimes you have to wonder whether the only point of the church is to institutionalize pedophilia. I swear to god.
16
Arrest and try Ratzy at the Hague for war crimes. The man is pure evil, along with Karl Rove and Dick Cheney. Make 'em share a cell.
17
Unfortunately, Catholicism is a lot like circumcision -- once it happens to you, the damage is done and it's really difficult to undo it. The most distressing thing about the entire child molestation scandal is how the Church continues to whine and complain about how IT is somehow the victim. As US Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis once wrote, "Sunlight is the best disinfectant." I do think that the adverse publicity and the financial losses stemming from revelations about sex abuse by clergy and efforts to cover it up by officials have finally stunned the Church into belatedly taking steps to clean its own Augean stables after literally centuries of denial and efforts to whitewash its malfeasance, but if the Catholic Church was wisely led and truly flexible there would have been no Protestant Reformation. It is wise, also, to remember that the abuse of young people by clergy under the color of the authority of their ministry is by no means limited to the Catholic Church or even Christianity -- but the Christian churches generally need to put aside their 2000-years-old paradigm and join the 21st Century, or risk becoming totally irrelevant.
18
The Church will not excommunicate people anymore. I guess they consider it bad press. What they will do is allow you to formally defect. I finished this process a few weeks back. All it takes are 2 letters to your local Archdiocese and you will have been "de-baptized." If you want step-by-step instructions on how to get it done go to youtube and search for a video by typing in defect and catholic church. Good luck.
19
Odd how in the same issue of The Stranger where one columnist castigates the Catholic Church for it's sins against minors, another columnist writes a piece where he... pervs over a minor. Perhaps Paul's compatriot missed his calling as a priest.

Your true rainbow colors are showing.

The disgraceful behavior of the Catholic hierchy invariably brings out gays with prissy condemnation. These folks aren't pitching stones in glass houses, but hurling them at a mirror.

Bill Donohue got one thing right in his letter to the NYT. The perpetrators of these crimes against minors aren't pedophiles in the classic sense, but homosexuals. Their victims tended to be adolescent boys, not prepubescent children.

One wonders again at the wisdom (or lack thereof) of leaving children in the company of gay men. Scout masters, choir directors, coaches, foster parents who aren't happily wed to a member of the opposite sex are cause for genuine concern.

In twenty to thirty years, when victims of society's new found tolerance come forward again with tales of betrayal, we'll ask ourselves how we could have let this happen. Our answer lies in the fable of the scorpion and the frog. "What did you expect? You knew who I was all along."
20
Dear Paul, no offense, but if your father was such a good man why was he so blind to the "evil" of the Catholic Church? Was he just really super stupid? Is it possible that you have fallen into the same trap as the rest of the Catholic world? Refusing to take responsibility for your own choices? Refusing to acknowledge that you have a superstitious belief that Catholic clergy have supernatural powers which enable them to "make" you Catholic and thus "unmake" you Catholic? Who really is to blame for these horrible child rapists running rampant throughout the Church? The truth is the blame falls squarely on the shoulders of the laity who insist on believing that priests are demi-gods, they put them up on impossible pedestals and when they prove to be all too human they take holy delight in burning them at the proverbial stake.
21
Paul, I'm thankful for your honesty and separating yourself from what has been hurtful to you and many others; from an institution that seems to be missing the mark, to put it mildly.

Some of the above comments concern me, however. While I think it's good and necessary to live and act honestly, I don't think we should lump every Catholic into the evil camp. The Church is an easy target, full of issues, shortcomings, and atrocities. They also have done good and are currently doing good; they have continually cared for people with their hospitals, foreign aid, and community development.

I am not Catholic. I belong to no specific church. I've never tried to convince anyone to believe what I believe, nor do I have any clue who I'll see in the life after this (assuming I make it).

I do believe, however, that angry rhetoric and isolating generalizations about over 1 billion Catholics will not bring change.

22
My mom's Catholic, but luckily she had the sense to let my siblings and me make out own decisions when we were old enough to have opinions on these things. #20, traditions die hard, and for many people, especially older people, stopping going to church would be as easy as amputating a limb, regardless of how little they may agree with what the Pope has to say. Just as many Americans don't feel that their opinions are properly represented by their government, many Catholics don't feel that their views are accurately represented by the Vatican. But I am extremely grateful that my mom gave me the choice: no priest has ever laid a hand on me, not even to flick water at my infant head.
23
I am a woman, ordained as a protestant minister, who was baptized in the Catholic Church & who still deeply loves that Church. Like the author of this open letter, my association with the Catholic Church is now mostly through dearly beloved family members. When I think of the Church, I think of my grandmother, my sister and her children, all of the dedicated priests & nuns who I have come to know as colleagues in ministry, and other faithful Catholics who are also deeply pained by the abuse that has been committed. Please, to others who have responded to this letter, do not demonize these people by calling them stupid & evil. It's an expression of the same kind of hatred that you claim to oppose.
Also, to the author: the experience you had your father's funeral mass sounds truly awful. Because you do not practice the Catholic faith, your desire to withdraw from the Church's membership seems a very reasonable and appropriate response.
24
Way to go! I believe in God but do not associate myself to any church because of the bigotry and hipocracy. Thank you for explaining the hatred the catholic church has produced.
25
Somehow this caused the great Ramones' song to pop into my head: "Twenty- twenty- twenty-four hours ago, I wanna be ex-communicated..."
26
I'm a catholic, and a practicing one at that, so that puts me in the very, very distinct minority around here. I understand your anger, but, in the spirit of whatever humanistic values you hold that might prompt you to the desire Good rather than evil (hey at least you believe in that much!), I'd advise, or rather, request that you might be less judgmental towards an entire, very large group of people. I just don't see how harboring malice towards the entire group within a faith - most of whom dearly desire change within the institution - is productive.
27
I agree with Paul, though he does sound like a conspiracy theorist. Just replace "Catholic Church" with "Zionists", "New World Order", "global elites" or any other nefarious cabal.
28
Iviola, I understand the anger to be directed toward the institution itself and some people within it, not every person who is a member of the Church. The Church - the institution - is often very different from many of its members.

Paul, I want to be excommunicated, too. I do not want to support an institution that goes against so many of my values.
29
Why do you need a letter to be excommunicated? Simply excommunicate yourself. Don't attend Mass anymore. Simple as that. You're a free person, and frankly, unless someone is holding a gun to your head, walk away and live your life.
30
Amen, Paul. Thank you for writing this. I've put this off too long, myself, and I am truly appreciative of the shove. If I ever get an official response letter back stating I am no longer a member of this cult, while knowing it holds no magic power to effect the eventual destination of my immortal soul (something I don't think I have, for the record) it will be framed and hold a place of prominence and pride in my home.
31
I think Ghandi said it well: "I like your Christ, but I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."
32
Walk away then, and quit whining. Nobody cares what you do with your life...you're a perfect stranger and no one cares if you are a Buddist, Muslim, Catholic, atheist or whatever. lol You contradict yourself...You say you never believed in God. Guess what? You were never Catholic to begin with! That should make you smile, so get off your soapbox and quit worrying about something you don't need...Before you write and ask for something you don't need and frankly you look foolish, not brilliant for being ignorant over the fact that you don't need an excommunication! Do a simple search of what is needed, and you would have known that! You sound like a spoiled child telling his mom that he wants her to kick him out of her house, but is too afraid to do it himself. You are free man, you don't need the church's permission. lol I mean this post in all due respect, no offense intended, but for someone who hates the church, why the hell are you so wrapped up in it? Negativity poisons the soul...
33
My condolences on the loss of your father, Paul. And, I'm so sorry for how the mass dedicated in your father's name, was hijacked too.

Your letter is finely written. I wish you peace.
34
I absolutely LOVE this new semantics argument that has sprung up..."The perpetrators of these crimes against minors aren't pedophiles in the classic sense, but homosexuals. Their victims tended to be adolescent boys, not prepubescent children."

Look, seriously: a man who has sex with another man is homosexual. A man who has sex with a child is a pedophile. ANY PERSON WHO TRIES TO SPLIT HAIRS ABOUT HAVING SEX WITH CHILDREN IS A MORON. Period. End of discussion.

No wait, P.S. any Catholic who still believes that there hasn't been an absolutely massive cover-up of years and years of child abuse is delusional.
35
@32

[bitch, bitch, piss, moan, bitch....]. Negativity poisons the soul....


Hypocrite

36
You're a terrific writer, Paul.
37
Not bitchin', nor moanin,...but laughing my head off how a grown man is so bitter enough to post moronic statements about "PLEEEEASE mommy give me an excommunication, cuz' I can't leave by myself..."
" Dear Catholic church: Excommunicate me! Pretty please?"
LMAO

38
Catholics are addicted to trauma, recovering Catholics love the drama, and grown ups know how to leave it all behind.
39
You do realize that you're already excommunicated latae sententiae, right? So no worries, your bishop need not do anything.

You also appear to misunderstand what excommunication means. You'll still be Catholic, you'll always be Catholic. There's no undoing that. You'll just be barred from the sacraments. Sorry pal, them's the rules.
40
@26, hypersensitive much? Paul's letter, to me, simply reads as a rejection of the men who occupy the Church's current hierarchy. Demanding delisting is as good a way as any to register one's displeasure and to apply pressure.

If you wish to serve and protect your fellow Catholics, perhaps you should consider following in his footsteps? Unless, of course, you approve of paedophile priests and the people who protect them.
41
The Church (by that I mean the Vatican) has been corrupt and power hungry for centuries: stealing land from women, oppressing non-Catholics, burning people, torturing scientists, starting wars, banking with the Mafia, and so on.

The Leadership of the Catholic Women Religious has been asked by the Vatican to report on the activities of the LCWR, claiming dwindling numbers. Most won't comply, of course. Most are pissed off with the Vatican too.

During the last twelve months, I've been connecting with Catholic laity (women), and have benefited from and been inspired by their work for social justice and charity. No one I know supports ongoing sexual abuse. While I live in the United States, I can't help that my tax dollars go to fund costly and unconquerable wars, or to pay for agencies whose ultimate goals are marking my every move or hearing my every phone call or making me poor; I stay here while I work to fix up my house and sell it to repatriate, and I earmark some money to fix problems caused by corporate fascism.

Likewise, with my local progressive and feminist Catholic friends and women religious, I do believe that we have a mission to press for reform, to undo misogynistic and abusive practices in the Vatican, and to make the world a better place for everyone.

I held off on introducing my child into the Catholic faith because I did not know personally any feminist Catholic men. I know now that it's possible to raise a Catholic man to be feminist. I don't know any Catholic who agrees with the Church's insistence on celibate priests, refusal to ordain women when early Christian priests and preachers included them, or incredible protection of problematic and paedophilic clergy.

I'm returning to the Catholic faith thanks to the histories of Dorothy Day, Simone Weil (although she wasn't Catholic), and Hildegard von Bingen (not officially canonized, but certainly outspoken about the Church's corruption in her day). Their actions and contributions are far greater and more meaningful to me than are the historic abuses of the Vatican. And I have on my SPL @toread list books by Rosemary Radford Ruether, Mary Daly, Joan Chittister, Matthew Fox, Richard Rohr, and Sandra Schneider: some apostates, some "heretics", some excommunicated, and some progressive and prominent Catholics.

Demanding to be excommunicated because of the unworthy, sinful, and execrable behavior of the current Pope and other Vatican higher-ups, while overlooking the centuries of corruption and victimization of a wider population of people seems disingenuous to me. Should I pack up and go home because Americans voted George W. Bush in TWICE? That's a larger population of people at fault, in my estimation. Should I have nothing to do with the Democrats because of John Edwards, Bill Clinton, Joseph Lieberman and past U.S. Attorney General Thomas McGranery?
42
The Church - the institution - is often very different from many of its members.

For the true believer, there is no distinction. Which, when you think about it, is kind of the whole problem in a nutshell.
43
I wrote a similar letter to the diocese where I grew up demanding they renounce my catholisism. I included a self addressed stamped envelope for written confirmation.

What really happened is they took it as a change of address and now I get all types of different hustles for catholic causes including from where I went to grade school.
44
While you're at it, Bishop, please excommunicate me, too.

Judith Brown, christened in 1950, confirmed in 1962 (St. Theresa's church, Succasunna, New Jersey.)

I could detail all the reasons you should excommunicate me, but take my word for it, by your rules, I qualify.

And then some.

But more importantly, I want out for all the reasons I'd excommunicate the Catholic Church from my ass if I could: rampant pedophilia, massive lying coverups of child rape, the denigration of women, and attack on their health, oh, I could go on and on.

So just excommunicate me already.

45
Savage should have written this piece.
46
Being raised and baptized in a Protestant church, leaving the church is a lot easier. In my case, all I had to do was call the minister of the church where my parents had signed up our family as members when I was a kid. It was a wonderful conversation, and if I were religious I'd be very pleased to be a member of that particular congregation. After telling the minister my reasons for wanting to be dis-enrolled (lifelong lack of belief and no interest in finding any), the minister thanked me for the call and said she wished her active church member would put as much thought into their beliefs and reasons for membership as I had. Kudos to her for being so forthright and letting me be honest about myself without judging me. Some clergy are truly honest and thoughtful people.
47
Thank you Paul! I too was raised with Catholic parents who are very good people. But nothing can cover up the sexual abuse I experienced as a child at the hands of Catholics. I do not label these people Catholics, they do. But I do label them pedophiles because I was a child in grade school when the abuse occurred and they were "adults". Both of them went on to marry someone of the opposite sex and I assume that makes them "heterosexual" by some people's labeling mechanism. Thankfully my parents see through the church's ridiculous facade and I was never baptized in a Catholic church. Those of you who continue to label people with a diseased and broken system need to realize that homosexuality and pedophilia have absolutely nothing to do with each other and I know this from experience!
You cannot pass judgment on an emotion you have never experienced. Do you know why you do not understand homosexuality? Because you are not homosexual.
48
Being angry at the Church itself is not the same as being angry at its followers. I don't think Paul was demonizing Catholics in general; just the sick fucks who run the show.
49
Humans will always screw things up. We always have and we always will. Politicians, pastors, doctors and everyone else and in between...but the one being that has walked this earth that deserves another look is the one we only wish to have the guts to follow. He was either super crazy and told all lies, or he is the only one who has ever really told the truth. He never said you have to attend church, or have water splashed on you, but he did tell those who were intrigued to simply "follow Him". Too many profess that they know him and follow him, but very few have had the courage to really forsake all to follow him. Read the red letters and make a decision for yourself.
50
@49, there's no proof that he ever walked this earth. It's possible that he never existed at all.
51
I was raised Catholic too. I renounced the Catholic faith eons ago, but like Paul, the Church still counts me in to bolster its numbers. If all those who want out could get out from the official tally the Catholic Church would look much less formidable. This is important since the Church uses its huge numbers of believers to beef up its claim to relevance in all matters cultural, social, political, etc. all over the world.
Catholics who are "offended" by Paul's letter should do some soul searching. It is up to good, decent, faithful Catholics to change the Church, to challenge the hierarchy, to question at every turn and demand the truth, Otherwise, asking folks like me to distinguish between the Catholic Church and the many good, loving, decent Catholics out there is disingenuous at best.
52
@19: Your logic still fails. If you've watched American Beauty, tell me, does that mean that all heterosexual men should be banned from working with and being in contact with small children? If anything, the reason why this scandal has concerned boys rather than girls is because the amount of contact that these priests had with boys was grossly disproportionate to the amount of contact they had with girls. How many deaf girls' choirs have you heard of being run by a male Catholic priest?

And how is "happily married" equivalent to "completely safe" in your book? The priests who abused children were supposedly celibate. A man can just as easily be supposedly "happily married" and still an abuser.
53
Paul - Thank you for your thoughtful and well written article. I appreciate the dual nature of your intended audience. Holding the church accountable for their actions is the first step towards driving change. I believe that the only way to force change is to hit them in the wallet. I encourage any outraged member to follow your path. Leave the church and their collection plates behind. Other than a lawsuit or pressing criminal charges, this is your only weapon against a large multi-national corporation.
54
Very powerful piece Paul. Good work.
55
Thanks Paul. Reading this takes me back. I wish you well.
56
I think 51 is completely correct and so is Paul -- as a child I was baptised and confirmed and am now a happy atheist. If all there was to it was me not going to church or identifying as Catholic, that would be great. The problem is that we are in the 1.1 billion total that confers their power in things... well that number is obviously far less than 1.1B, and it is important that we be removed from the rolls of this corrupt and horrible institution.

And sorry if believers are offended, but seriously -- you can't possibly believe this crap any more. It's time to get yourselves out too.
57
Excellent, Paul. Kudos for writing it.

I can only imagine your disgust at how your father's service was hijacked. My husband and I felt the same way last summer at his brother's funeral service. His brother was a police officer, popular and beloved, and the church was packed with several hundred of his former colleagues. The pastor used that as an opportunity for recruiting and fear-mongering, informing the police officers that - given the dangers of their profession - they could die in the line of duty at any time and should therefore accept Jesus into their lives. He must have preached for a good 10 minutes on this.

We were completely outraged and disgusted. It reaffirmed, once again, why I do not belong to any church.
58
My cousin just got baptized in the catholic church over easter weekend. I don't understand it. Good for you for calling the bishop guy and that pope guy out though.
59
Any religious organization that has the levels of hierarchy, the access to temporal power, the financial backing, and most importantly the ability to claim that ONLY THROUGH THEM can anyone not burn in hell will end up as the Catholic Church has ended up. My faith, Judaism, doesn't have that fatally-flawed hierarchy, except for certain Hassidic sects who follow a dynastic model (rebbe father, rebbe son, etc.), and I can't think of any other non-Christian faiths who are situated the way the Church is. Radical Islamists are--let's just say they're pretty awful, but it isn't a structural thing.

I see no hope that the Church will change, because it's built upon NO change. What would it be without its current structure? This isn't a faith; this is an oligarchy. Catholics will leave the Church; the Church won't leave it's self, and the current pope Ratzinger is the essence of the self of the Church; he's the uber-Pope. Neither he nor his successor in the modern-day Inquisition (who is implicated in the Oregon crimes) has shown any inclination to change.

Despite the difficulties, to say the least, of not being a Christian in an overwhelmingly Christian society, I've never been so glad I'm not. It's a little easier to not be cowed by threats of going to hell when you're sure there is no hell and you think the concept of Original Sin is ridiculous. I sympathize with how difficult it is to untangle yourself from those teachings when you've had them catechized into you from childhood, and how even for nonbelievers, your final disgust leads you to want a formal disengagement.
60
@52. I liked your response to @19. Bringing up a film about pop culture was a nice sentiment (because...after all...doesn't art imitate life?) and I would like to take that idea a step further to point out a 2006 documentary called "Deliver Us from Evil."
I know from experience (as a sexologist, as a rape crisis counselor, from my own past experiences with sexual violence) that most people don't like to sit through films that focus on the horrors of sexual abuse. You might be surprised that rape and incest are underrepresented topics even in women's studies classes. This is exactly why it is important to talk about this social problem. I would urge everyone to watch this film - at the very least.

@19 To address the issue of finger pointing and blaming the gays...I was appalled by the things that you wrote. Although I do admit that your response was more literate than most I've seen on the internet, it made me very sad to think that anyone with a sense of reason could come up with such ignorant statements about leaving children alone with gay men. I urge you to check out Dan Savage's posts on Slog that regularly address the lack of wisdom associated with leaving children alone with certain heterosexual couples. He calls these segments "Every Child Deserves a Mother and a Father."
Also...it's disheartening to know that you truly believe this nonsense without looking at the facts about sexual abuse. It's not surprising to me - because many believers of ideologies similar to yours are prone to blindness when it comes to facts - but disheartening...to say the least.

@Paul...Thank you. Your letter was beautifully written and appreciated. I can only hope that one day my words will affect people in the way that yours have in this piece. Bravo.
61
"LOS ANGELES (AP) — The future Pope Benedict XVI resisted pleas to defrock a California priest with a record of sexually molesting children, citing concerns including "the good of the universal church," according to a 1985 letter bearing his signature."

Posted 1 hour ago at the LA Times
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/…
63
@19:

Kiesle would eventually be defrocked—and was eventually charged with molesting 13 children. He told a lawyer that he molested "tons" of children, boy and girls, "every child that sat on his lap."


It's proximity to children, really.

When you're told you can't have sex, marry, associate freely with women and a slew of other prohibitions, you tend to get a little grabby it seems. Especially if you're given this idea that your power and knowledge transcends mortal life.

Blaming it on gays just makes it easy to distract from the real issue, which seems to be the goal.
64
perfectly articulated my thoughts toward this church
65
I dont think posting "excommunicate me too!" to this blog is going to do much.

religious people are fucking weird.
66
Technically, it's a done deal. When someone "leaves the church" the "church" considers them to be apostate and de facto excommunicate. Because you left, they have no need to throw you out for what these creeps consider to be your horrifying "dissent."

And your letter here makes it official. You're in the clear!
67
Technically, it's a done deal. When someone "leaves the church" the "church" considers them to be apostate and de facto excommunicate. Because you left, they have no need to throw you out for what these creeps consider to be your horrifying "dissent."

And your letter here makes it official. You're in the clear!
69
"Look, seriously: a man who has sex with another man is homosexual. A man who has sex with a child is a pedophile. ANY PERSON WHO TRIES TO SPLIT HAIRS ABOUT HAVING SEX WITH CHILDREN IS A MORON. Period. End of discussion."

Your quibble is with the DSM, not with me. Now of course, psychologists are having some difficulty defining what a "child" actually is. Biologically, and historically, an individual who hit puberty was an adult. Not so long ago, it wasn't unusual for a much older man to marry a young girl; Poe's wife was 13 when they married (but that's not why Poe's contemporaries thought him strange). Our inclusion of teenagers as children dates back chiefly to the 1930s when public education expanded and child labor laws were passed. I still maintain that a man having sex with a teenage boy is homosexual, not a pedophile.

But let's assume that "child" and "teenager" are synonymous. Then how are we to respond to the following from the pages of The Stranger:

"If you hit it off, MINOR, it would be a shame if youd didn't allow Kyle to benefit your your wisdom, experience, and cock just because he wasn't born 12 months earlier." - Dan Savage

"Guys! Justin Bieber is on Saturday Night Live this week! SQUEAAAAAAAALLLLL!!! Justin Bieber (pronounced "bee-ber") is a 16-year-old international pop star from Canada. Oh, and Justin Bieber looks like a really cute lesbian. He should be on Glee! OMG, what a great idea!! SQUEAAAAAAAALLLLL!!"

Go ahead and squeal. I say "retch!" Support either view, and you've painted yourself into a corner.
70
"The church is a whore...but she is my mother."
- St. Augustine

Thanks for your powerfully and beautifully written letter, Paul. Truly inspiring and sad. Like you, I was born in to the Catholic church (baptized, confirmed,etc.) and left it at 18. Unlike you, however, I find myself at age 46 back at mass on most Sundays.

So why did I like your letter? Mostly because it is the ridiculous levels of dishonesty, lack of accountability, and pure totalitarianism in the Catholic Church that, over the ages, I believe have led to its current state of corruption.

And your letter sings that out loud and clear. Thank you for that. I don't believe the Catholic church has any hope of change until more Catholics are willing to be honest and vocal about its corruption.

So, why I am I back in church? For some reason I do believe in the existence of a God, though I can't prove it. (bacon offers a strong argument for). In reinvestigating the Catholic church, I have made some interesting and hopeful discoveries. What I found (that they don't exactly teach you in catechism) is that the Catholic church started out as a loving, egalitarian, compassionate community. It was only through the centuries that changes (that were often based on forgeries, violence, and pure power grabbing) such as having a pope, banning women from ministry, require celibacy, and in general creating an enormous, heirarchical, secretive, and powerful religion/state accumulated to leave what we have today.

I have also been encouraged to find that there are still some really cool Catholics. The Liberation theology movement (Romero, Guitierrez,Boff, et.al.) has birthed a tremendous shift in social justice activities and reform in the church. Not surprisingly, Cardinal Ratzinger (now the Pope) was one of the Vatican officials who denounced them back in the 70s. I'm also encouraged to find that there are grassroots Catholic organizations such as Call to Action (http://www.cta-usa.org/) which would painfully agree with much of what you wrote. But who are also committed to changing what seems unchangeable.

So, I may well end up like you. However, for some reason I don't feel I have a choice. I'm Catholic, just like I'm a man and I'm American. But it is painful. So I have started and will continue to make noise and be involved with trying to reform the church. I can only hope that I do enough good to be concerned about excommunication.

I will bring a copy to church Sunday and make sure my priest has read it.

71
Well said, sir!
72
Good on you Paul....It's people like you and other ex Catholic's that need to speak out to the world so that this "cult" for the want of a better word is brought to it's knee's. (We all know that will never happen though) Money talks....I just find it so hard to beleive that the problems that you mention continue in 2010 to be swept under the carpet and ignored. Are we so stupid as a race not to fight this head on and all do our bit. There should be a world war on organisations like this till it gone. This world wood be a much better place don't you think? What fucks up the world? Religion and politics
73
Way to go paul. However other churches are almost as bad. Most bad happenings are religous related.
74
I was told that as soon as I was Confirmed, I would be considered an adult in the Church. My first adult decision after Confirmation was to leave the Church. I didn't even need all this pedophile crap to convince me this institution was far from righteous, there was so much else my young eyes could plainly see was wrong with it. That was 1984, I was 14, and I haven't looked back. I went to Catholic schools through college (one of the few things this institution did right, educating poor children, minus the sex) and could never be convinced that they had one.damn.leg. to stand on when it came to God's Word. As a philosophy major, I took a ton of classes with seminarians, and it made me so sad to watch the brainwashing in action.

What was the final straw for me? I learned in my all-girls Catholic high school religion class, taught by a nun, that: If you commit murder, you will be forgiven. If you are a woman and have an abortion, you are automatically excommunicated. I refused to belong to an institution that didn't view me as equal to a man. period. Women should be ashamed to be Catholics.
75
Excommunicate me too please... there is nothing I would like more than to be excommunicated from the catholic church,for all the same reasons and more.I now feel ill every time I hear the word 'PETTY'!
76
I went to school with the nuns. They taught me math,hit me with a ruler, and told me I will judged someday by Jesus.
I don't expect Jesus to bring up condoms, gay marriage or abortion since He never did bring them up in the gospels.
But Jesus was very clear about what he thought about hypocrites and the corrupters of children.
If the nuns were right, the bishops will someday stand before the Lord and creator of all and offer their bullshit excuses for tolerating child rape.
They will not be able to lawyer up in that court.
77
That was an awesome letter! My condolences go out to you and your family for having to put up with the insensitive douchebags of that parish.
78
Condolences on the passing of your father.

Bravo on one of the most eloquent letters I have read in a long time. Kukdos, dude.
79
What's amazingly obvious to everyone except the dumbest of people posting here is that his gesture and his point is to be removed from the Catholic count that the church uses to express their power in numbers. It's an impressive statement from someone who the Catholic church counts in the number they claim as their faithful following. It's well written, it's personal, and it carries weight. Feel free to disagree, that's one of the beauties of the forums, but this will speak to a lot of Catholics on a level that only the blindest of supporters will never understand.

You can't profess to be a Christian and support this abomination of Christ's teaching that the Catholic Church has become (or maybe always was.) If you can't step back and realize how cult-ish and creepy the Catholic Church has become, then what are you really saying about your relationship with God?

I'm still borderline on my own Catholic associations. I still go to church. I am still getting married in a Catholic church but each and every time I hear the Vatican trying to paint themselves as the victim here moves me further away. Every time they look for someone new to hate on I move even further away. What more and more Catholics are realizing is that the church needs us a lot more then we need them. The future of the church is in the parishoner's hands. If we don't stand up and demand accountability for their actions they will continue to let us down and we will continue to be the ones responsible for their actions.

No more hate, no more secrets.
80
I'm a cradle Catholic and still attend mass every week with my children (4 and .5). I hope to pass on my faith in God and the beliefs of the Church to them. I also hope to pass on my indignation and desire that every priest involved in the act or covering up of these sick crimes be defrocked and submitted to the rule of law. God may forgive their sin if they are really sorry (unlikely that they are) but Jesus also said to "render unto Ceasar that which is Ceasar's". These sick men should be rendered unto the courts and prison.

I pray that when my children are older that this travesty and hijacking of the holy Church is a distant memory and that real men and women of God are in charge and following God's word. I would rather the Church as an institution die if it means preserving her name as was originally intended by Jesus when he made Paul the rock on which she would sit.
82
you've inspired me to do the same. i'll be writing to the Catholic church of Baltimore.
83
Clearly, Paul, you have serious issues of ressentiment.
84
God damn! Paul and The Stranger, you make me proud.
85
It's very difficult to actually get excommunicated, even if you're an admitted atheist. If you've personally renounced your Catholic faith, why give any credence to what the church thinks?

Also, I thought your argument was weakened by your reference to the pope as an "ex-Hitler Youth". He was conscripted into the Hitler Youth when he was 14, which really has nothing to do with the child molestation scandals that we should all be focused on. Including extraneous information like that to further vilify the pope is unnecessary. His actions speak for themselves.
86
Could you also excommunicate my whorish ex-wife, a good Catholic who had sex with 40-60 men and women while married to me? okthxbai
87
I hope you achieve your goal. There is a more rigorous way to plead your case, but the Church won't grant it:

http://www.secularhumanism.org/index.php…

I suggest that if you support Paul, I suggest you write to be excommunicated as well.
88
Let me try that again...

Note that I had to split the link to get it to post:

http://www.secularhumanism.org
/index.php?section=library&page=flynn_29_2
89
@80/celticboy: I can totally respect your faith, and you deserve to have any belief structure which supports you & your family. (so long it is not at others' financial or freedom expense)

What I will never get is why this requires this evil corporate apparatus of professional creeps. It does NOT. Seek/worship God, et al. as you wish, and the hell with these fearmongering, self-aggrandizing, politicizing criminals. This is in no way limited to the Catholic church, it's just the biggest and worst case. There are many others.
90
Well done, Paul! Your request for excommunication via a public forum is a necessary counter action to the dismissive arrogance coming from the Catholic corporate hierarchy. The details of excommunication are beside the point, which is to hold this hierarchy not only accountable for their sanctimonious dismissal of the appalling enormity of the abuse of children and adolescents, but also for the culture of degradation of women, gays and lesbians, and children in which this abuse has flourished. There is no room for so-called 'cafeteria catholics' in this culture.

And, furthermore, this has not a thing to do with homosexuality or celibacy. The 'debate' about whether sex with a teenage boy is a manifestation of pedophilia is irrevelant. Yes, the sexual abuse of children is a manifestation of pedophilia, but beyond the issue of pedophilia this is also about abusing a position of power and authority to coerce and exploit vulnerable individuals. The Catholic church attracts pedophiles because of the 'cover' it provides while allowing unlimited access to children. Until the Catholic hierarchy fully holds itself accountable for allowing this to happen, the abuse will continue. And I don't think they will. There you have it.
91
Dear fellow readers , in support of Paul, however you "read" him, I am also a recovering Catholic, who was farmed out to the covenant church, otherwise known as a Catholic run children's home, at the tender age of 12-yrs, along with three younger brothers (I will not speak for them out of respect). I think we were to become a nun, me, and priests, them. I ,after the first year, told my mom I would not go back and if they (her and my dad) tried to send me back I would run away or kill myself. I was allowed to stay home then but I think it was because I could then provide childcare for the still being born babies, no birth control allowed remember. So as to this issue there is a whole lot of information to be captured and if one has been directly impacted in one's life by this religious machine it is hard to remain emotionally detached from the subject. I get that, Paul. In the 14th to 15th centuries or thereabouts the largest scale genocide in our known history was committed by said church against approx. 9-million persons, women, men and children in the then existing European nations because the Pope of the Catholic Church and all his menions said these were "witches" and must be burned, tortured until they admitted their sins, hung, placed in the Iron Maiden, butchered and burned in the streets, whole villages were annihilated, this was called the Inquisition, this is 3-million over the genocide committed by Hitler's Nazi germany against another religious group. How many times have you heard that story, seen pictures, read novels, watched movies, attended memorial sites etc., etc., etc. The horrors of this history of the Catholic Church must be researched and uncovered to be understood if one is interested. However for now there are the other issues of the day including Paul's account of his father's funeral service, HOW DARE THEY! But they do dare because of all those who choose to continue to support this worldwide entity. If you read the New Testament and what Jesus is purported to have done and to have said in one story he threw the Pharassis (sp?) out of the temple because they were charging money to the faithful to get to heaven, how is Paul's story for the demand for money by the catholic church which happens each and every sunday as well any different? sure other churches do so as well but this church which claims to be the original church of God's only begotten son has wealth GIGANTIC and in the vatican holds art and treasures beyond belief and beyond any of the other churches, and most was stolen in the second great offense against persons of other nations called the Crusades when the knights of war burned down the library at Konstantinopal which held the wisdom of ages, stealing riches, arts and keeping only those books the Catholic Church deemed appropriate. What arrogance and ultimate tragedy for all that was lost to us in true history for ourselves and for our children's legacy on this earth! If the Catholic church has a true faith and wants to help the poor and the meek of the earth, they should open their coffers to them all over the globe instead of asking for more! The revealing of the sins against children by the employees of this church, nuns and priests, needs to continue and should be open for discussion and for healing for all and the lawsuits that follow welcomed as some form of dues paid. I agree there are many other churches, religions, false profits, new age scammers and that this is just the biggest and worst case. I do not speak here to faithful individuals who practice their religion under this cover and who are sincere as I count them among my friends, we agree to disagree. I speak my truth as Paul did his, and that includes Saul later called Paul who on his journey to Demascus (sp?) found his faith, and those who have not walked in my shoes cannot understand my journey and I do not try to argue their opinions or perceptions as this is a futile endeavor. My basic core belief system tells me however that everything happens for a reason and I knew when I was 4-years old that we all sat on the father's knee, symbolically, before we were born into this life and we agreed to this drama even though we would have to live through all kinds of earthly experiences as spiritual beings having a human life! All paths lead to the same source, Salute'!
92
As someone who has personally met women who were sexually abused as girls by male priests, I want to state emphatically that this is not about homosexuality. It's about rape, and rape is not just about sex, it's about abusing one's power over another. It also doesn't matter the ages of the boys or girls: if sexual actions done to a person are not consented to, and a minor by law is defined as not being of an age to grant informed consent, then it's illegal, not to mention immoral and in no way defensible by any standard found in the Bible or Catholic doctrine.

(I'm a baptized Catholic who left the church several months ago, in large part because I came to believe that the misogyny, corruption, and homophobia are just too deeply ingrained to ever be reformed)
93
Paul, as man who left the Catholic church for a number of reasons, I completely understand your anger. But it concerns me, too. I counted the word "hate" five times in your letter, all directed at the Bishop and the Church. But it is clear from your words that you have a lot of hate for them too. What a lot of Catholics and ex-Catholics alike fail to realize is that you cannot combat hatred with hatred. You can only add to it.
94
#93: Holding "the Bishop and the Church" accountable for their hate-filled hypocrisy is not directing hate at them, nor is it combating hatred with hatred. The harsh impact of unequivocal expressions of horror and outrage is exactly what the Catholic hierarchy needs to encounter (that and the full arm of the law, for these are criminal acts); and the rest of us need to hear it in order to shake us out of sheeplike complacency.

#92: Well said! Your points sum up the nature of the abuse for what it is---rape and abuse of power
95
When the church totals its members it uses the number of practicing catholics registered in its parishes. Don't worry, Paul. "Officially" excommunicated or not, you're not being counted.
96
Right ON, Paul, and vjw!!!!
97
Right ON, Paul and vjw!
Hatred, rape and abuse must stop.
98
Sorry---the computer was slow.
99
You don't hear about how many people did NOT die today, in the news.

I am a Catholic, but haven't been to church in years. I have my own views of God, and my own beliefs. I do not follow the interpretations of other men.

That being said, the entire catholic church is not corrupt. I live in Nova Scotia, where Bishop Raymond Lahey is awaiting a court date for child pornography charges. How he can look in the mirror, and still call himself a man of God is beyond me. There are, however good men in the church. Many priests became what they were to help people in their communities, to help underprivaleged families, and believe that man is good, because they are good.

Say what you will of the church as a body. Certain heads of the church will be destined for judgment of their sins.

Please don't make Hell on Earth for those who don't deserve it. For the everyman who belongs to the church for something higher to believe in, for the child who hopes to see a lost loved one again. Don't bash or dash that hope, please direct your rage at the ones who deserve it, dont generalize.
100
Hello. My name is Alex, and I am a Catholic. Understandably, there is a bit of shame that comes with that "confession" these days, isn't there?

I have been close to sending a letter like Paul's to the Philadelphia Archdiocese into which I was baptized. The scandals, the sexism, the homophobia, the stubborn failure to acknowledge condoms as vital public health tool, the failure to speak out against the genocide in Rwanda, etc, etc - certainly my Church has given me more than enough reasons to leave.

But, similar to what carlb510 and Keister Button wrote, I think that the essence of Catholicism - beyond the Pope and the hierarchy - can be saved. The teachings of liberation theology, Catholics for Choice, and, yes, a fine Jesuit education at Fordham University all give me hope that Catholicism can be a force for good in this world.

I have moved several times over the last 10 years. In that time I have rediscovered my faith after a long absence and in Philadelphia, New York, and Seattle I have found welcoming and accepting parishes. While not a registered parishioner, I currently call St. Joseph Parish on Capital Hill my spiritual home. I was so glad to hear Fr. John Whitney, a dynamic and warm man of the cloth, bring up the recent "scandals" on Easter Sunday. He reminded us that the true heart of the Church is not what you see in the headlines but rests in the community that gathers under the roof of St. Joe's. While those words are of little comfort to the victims of abuse, it was a relief to hear my priest acknowledge the latest news of abuses and ask us to hold on to our faith.

Yes, these are hard times to be Catholic and if Paul Constant is an athirst anyway, than by all means, defect from the Church. But for those who do Believe and are still on the fence about leaving the Church, I urge you to reconsider. There are welcoming havens out there, where even a pro-choice, pro-condom, pre-marital sex having harlot like me still feels moved by some greater spirit.
101
Well done to you, Paul. Thank you for writing this and making it public.
102
Good on you Paul. I'm taking up my pen as well and requesting the same result for many of the same reasons. Thanks for your courage and inspiration.
103
My mother was officially excommunicated from the Catholic Church. This interesting tidbit of information came to me during a recent visit with my brother, who is 12 yrs older than myself. For the record, I am a non-apologetic atheist, while my brother is a more pragmatic agnostic who prefers to hedge his bets in the event he is mistaken. He is also 12 yrs my senior. I came along a wee bit late in my parents life.

So how did my mother get excommunicated? By being a good, devout Catholic. She was 44 when I was born in 1965, far too late in her life at that time to have children according to medical practice of the day. Thus, it was recommended for health reasons I be terminated. Well, above all else, my mother was Catholic so this was simply not an option in her mind. She went through the birth (for which I am thankful, more so now then as a child) and complications ensued, leaving her with a permanent hormone imbalance. The treatment this condition was, and still is (just ask my ex-yet fully catholic-wife) hormone therapy which was, and still is, delivered in the form of "birth control" pills.

Now, my long dead mother, being a good Catholic, was conflicted by this course of treatment, so she went to the best organization she knew to address her fears about being prescribed medicine she desparately needed to maintain a semblance of a normal life, the Church. Long story longer, the priest, being the "official" rep, told her she would be violating the ethos of the church. A 46yr old woman, well beyond child bearing for the kid she just had, taking a hormone pill?

So those readers of the feminine gender, if you wish to take Mr. Constant's advice, and you happen to use hormone based birth control, simply fess up to your local neighborhood Priest. In about two shakes of the holy water stick Priests use to fling that sacrament on the masses, you'll be out the door of that organization. Me - I'm going to see if a vasectomy qualifies and if it does, schedule the appointment post haste, although I don't need that to be excommunicated.

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