Comments on: The Catholic Brand

By: Kel

Kel — Tue, 04 May 2010 17:42:13 +0000

Amen sista’ Margaret!

By: Margaret

Margaret — Mon, 03 May 2010 19:59:25 +0000

As someone who was raised in a very religious household and raised my 3 children under the Catholic Church, I am appalled by how the “leaders of the Church” have handled this scandle. And personally, I think God is appalled too. As you stated, Kel, where is the accountability? Stand up, admit the wrongs, and move on to make the Church a safe place for everyone.

By: Kel

Kel — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 21:19:21 +0000

karen, i think you are right about the nose dive. it looks like parts are falling off the plane left and right and it is headed for the ground. interesting that the tv show “lost” had a similar premise. i think the word accurately describes where the vatican is right now…and unfortunately, so are some of its followers.

By: Karen

Karen — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 19:01:23 +0000

Awesome post. One word to all of that: AMEN. I am not Catholic, but grew up in a Catholic town and lots of Catholic friends. Interestingly all of my friends who attended Catholic school, not one I know is still a Catholic. In fact, most are still quite spiritual, but have pursued other forms of worship. And this was long before the many child rape scandals. I see the Catholic church like a large plane crashing. It will go miles and miles before losing altitude and crashing. But it feels like we might be seeing the start of the nosedive.

By: Kel

Kel — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 00:30:17 +0000

janet, your comment was so insightful. the fact that you made a decision to leave the church at age 12 screams volumes about your wisdom…and about how messed up the vatican’s thinking is that even a pre-teen can see it. your line that “they’ve lost touch with *the* fundamental – which is *love*” really nets it out beautifully. hearts.

By: Janet Aronica

Janet Aronica — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 21:43:04 +0000

I really like this post. I was baptized Catholic and went through communion and what not, but I went to a summer camp when I was 12 that introduced to a different form of Christianity. I came back from that camp and told my parents that I no longer wanted to be Catholic, and my mom ended up following me on the way out. It’s interesting because a lot of Protestant organizations get criticized for almost over-correcting the Catholic church’s problem of not changing with the times. My church at home plays rock music and plays really cool short movies to compliment that week’s message on a high-techy movie screen. Some people say they’ve gotten too into being cool and lost touch with the fundamentals. I’d almost say the Catholic brand is so into holding on to what they think are the fundamentals (stance on gays and abortion, for instance) that they’ve lost touch with *the* fundamental – which is *love*, and that good essence that you mentioned.

By: Kel

Kel — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 20:34:47 +0000

wow monica! that is a smoking gun. the poor guy. he was manipulated and it is haunting. thanks for sharing this with everyone.

By: Kel

Kel — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 20:03:55 +0000

i thought i would share this comment everyone who reads this blog. after reading “the catholic brand”post, my 76 year old, irish catholic dad made the following comment on my facebook wall:

“Hi. Just wanted to correct a statement you made. I am a practicing Catholic, however far from being a devout one. I have many issues with the church. My belief is in God, not necessarily with the church. I am appalled with the way they have handled this sex abuse issue. They were more concerned with saving their image than saving the children. They were simply embarrassed by the whole situation and did not know how to handle and resolve it. They swept it under the rug and hoped it would go away.I cannot get over how universally widespread this problem is. The only salvation for the church is to admit their errors, accept responsibility for their actions, ask for forgiveness and try to move on. This has got to start with the Pope. I feel so sad for all the good Priests who are ashamed to wear their clerical garb in public. A lot of them have become hostages in their own rectories. I will always be a defender of my Catholic faith but I will not defend them.”

i think that says it all….

By: Monica Young

Monica Young — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 18:45:45 +0000

Kel,
Listen to the first 20 minutes of This American Life podcast: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/404/enemy-camp-2010. It’s about a monk who was made a “fixer” for the Catholic church. It’s really a fascinating behind the scenes look at how methodically and evilly these things get covered up.

By: Kel

Kel — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 17:00:24 +0000

frank, thanks so much for sharing your personal experience. so many of my friends share a similar conflict. like you, many drew strength and support from the church during personal struggle — death of parent, sick child, etc. and like you, all they are asking for is accountability and evolution in thinking. i hope the vatican has an epiphany that accountability and change will strengthen its following. otherwise, i believe the current path of denial and blame will be the end of them.

By: Frank

Frank — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 16:19:56 +0000

Kel, as a Catholic I have to say my faith has been a guiding force for me…I went to a great Franciscan Catholic college (Siena College) that I loved, the church helped me and my family through the untimely passing of my dad and I’ve always looked to the church in times of need and guidance. I wouldn’t describe myself as a religious person, however I do believe in a higher order to guide my inner compass with soul searching and direction.

Unfortunately, I am so saddened the church hasn’t evolved or adapted as Ben so eloquently stated. It boggles my mind that the church is still holding so close these crumbling tenets that are so absurdly antiquated (abortion, contraception, gays, etc.).

The sex abuse scandal HAS to be the tipping point…if the Vatican doesn’t grab the reins soon and admit they made egregious mistakes (one after another) there will be hell to pay, literally. As the hierarchy works to address the problems of pedophilia and coverups, everyone in the pews are demanding accountability and change.

By: Kel

Kel — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 20:17:40 +0000

nancy, thanks for sharing the link. i had not read the article. it’s funny because my dad who is a devout catholic is stunned that no nun abuse (physical not sexual) scandals have come out. he went to catholic schools and recalls be scared to death of them. he shared a bunch of stories as recently as a few weeks ago when we were all together. i’m sure more will unfold on this subject. btw, i think yvonne abraham did an exceptional job expressing her disappointment. the headline says it all: “the church i knew.”

By: Nancy Harrington

Nancy Harrington — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 20:09:05 +0000

Good stuff Kel. Christine and I had a conversation this morning on this very topic. As angry as I get at the Catholic church, I feel equally sad for my Catholic friends that are torn up by all of this. There is a good column in the Globe Sunday by Yvonne Abraham on a similar topic:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/04/18/the_church_i_knew/

By: Kel

Kel — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 17:16:45 +0000

happy patriots day ben! i hadn’t heard the term “ethnically” catholic, but i have a feeling a huge percentage of catholics fall into this category. i appreciate the insight on the “counter reformation.” it’s amazing the church’s pr team could be so successful with that campaign and fail so miserably in how they handled the sexual abuse crisis. although it makes sense because it sounds like the counter reformation focused on expanded geographies versus accountability. to me, the glaring warning alarm for the vatican is when the catholics in ireland say they have had enough and that’s exactly what is going on right now. this is going to be an interesting and disturbing story to follow.

By: Ben Carcio

Ben Carcio — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 13:51:54 +0000

Love the post. I’m always saying that if I ever wrote a book, it would be how religion (namely Catholicism) is the single most successful marketing organization of all time. Like you I’m “ethnically” Catholic and now agnostic, but historically the Catholic church has impressed me with its resiliency. One example, during the Reformation the Church was far more exposed when their system of Indulgences was exposed as a pay-to-play system for getting into heaven, thanks Martin Luther! The Church PR and marketing teams at the time launched an aggressive brand recovery program called the Counter Reformation, where among other things, they entered new markets and added nearly a quarter of billion new “fans” in Central and South America. Tiger Woods only hopes he could recover so well.

The Church clearly needs adapt, throw away old stubbornness and adapt themselves to today’s buyer, who are not so easily fooled. Old catholic strongholds like Europe and New England are now more liberal and open-minded, and they need to adjust to reconnect with these lucrative clients. They’ve changed before (many times) and can do it again.