Prominent priest apologizes for controversial sex abuse remarks
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The Rev. Benedict Groeschel, a popular Franciscan friar who defended priests who sexually abuse children and blamed some victims for “seducing” them, has apologized for the controversial remarks.
Groeschel, 78, said in a statement released late Thursday (Aug. 30) that he blamed his failing health for the way he phrased the comments.
“My mind and my way of expressing myself are not as clear as they used to be,” said Groeschel, who, with his hooded gray Capuchin habit and long white beard, is a familiar figure on conservative Catholic media.
“I did not intend to blame the victim,” he said. “A priest (or anyone else) who abuses a minor is always wrong and is always responsible.”
Groeschel’s community, the Franciscan Friars of Renewal, a conservative order that he founded 25 years ago in New York, also apologized for the remarks and called them “inappropriate and untrue.” The friars added that the comments “were completely out of character” for Groeschel and resulted from infirmities stemming from a car accident several years ago and a recent stroke.
“In recent months his health, memory and cognitive ability have been failing,” the friars said. “He has been in and out of the hospital. Due to his declining health and inability to care for himself, Fr. Benedict had moved to a location where he could rest and be relieved of his responsibilities.”
Other members of the order confirmed that Groeschel, who for decades was an influential author and speaker who frequently appeared on the conservative Catholic cable station EWTN, was unlikely to be making any more public appearances.
The apologies followed a rapid series of developments following the publication of an interview with Groeschel in the National Catholic Register, a conservative newspaper that EWTN purchased last year from the scandal-tarred Legion of Christ order.
Groeschel had told the Register that priests who sexually abuse children “on their first offense” should not go to jail, and he added that in “a lot of cases” the child is “the seducer.”
He also expressed sympathy for Jerry Sandusky, the former Penn State assistant football coach who was convicted in June of 45 counts of child sexual abuse in a scandal that rocked college football and dominated the news much as the clergy crisis has.
Groeschel’s comments quickly sparked outrage and were taken down from the website of the Register, replaced by an apology from the paper’s editor.
Earlier Thursday, a spokesman for New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan, a longtime friend of Groeschel, also issued a sharp denunciation of the priest’s comments.
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30 Comments
The picture above of Dolan with his arm around Fr. Groesche says volums. Let me walk you to the 8th floor.”Damage control.”In realty he lived a good life, now due to age and health, he must be re-tired. We and many knew this day would come. Dolan acted in charity and we pray for him. It was dealt with quickly and in charity. This is why all Bishops, priests, deacons must put in for retirerment at age 75. We at that age are all loosing it.
It was announced today that Fr Groesche leaving leaving his EWTN prime time program.
Yes Compassion is a good thing as long as it doesn’t cover up the truth. this priest has for years looked down his nose at others, passed judgement on people he did not know and has finally hit bottom, like so many other priests who think child sexual abuse is ok! And it’s not surprising EWTN has taken another hit. That network and it’s so called experts should be taken off the air and dealt with accordingly. It does more harm and keeps the church in the 1940′s. As that cardinal that died said “The church is 200 years behind the times.”
Good for you Thomas Merton, EWTN is a little bit more than 200 years behind the time with their Fifteenth century sense of spirituality and their outdated theology. They have given us Fr Ken Roberts, Fr John Corapri, Fr Tom Entenheaur, Monsignor Clark and other holier than thou guys who fell mightely
In the gospels; Jesus clearly warns us against judging another mans’ servant. (perhaps you can quote the passage, Jim)
Catholic Lady – does this apply to everyone or only to those who think differently from you? It is okay for you and Jim to judge – but not others? Just curious!
Concerned; Jesus is clearly warning all, not just you & I.
So what are we to conclude here? That poor Father Groeschel is a misunderstood old friar who is sadly losing his mental sharpness? I’m willing to grant him that. So I can expect his retirement announcement sometime today?
Perhaps you can look deep within yourself and find just a little compassion for Father Groeschel, who to our knowledge has served the Lord God, within the Catholic Church faithfully for a large number of years. I hope that when you get to be the father’s age Steve that others will treat you with this same compassion.
The Chhurch has a very wise rule that Bishops, Priests and deacons should offer their retirement at 75, no doubt to protect itself from the likes of the outrageous remarks of Goeschel.
I believe cardinals can still “vote” for the pope until age 80, though! (according to Father Andrew Greeley’s book, “The Making of the Popes 1978.”
Yeah Steve, we all knew that he would be forced to apologize. The sad thing is that people at his stage of life typically lose editing abilities. Leads me to believe he simply said what he has always been thinking. But he will be silenced and they will now guard him to make sure that since he can’t edit, somone else will do it for him.
I agree. As we age, the truth we feel just gets blurted out — sort of like unintentionally wetting our pants after the aged muscles go.
My friend’s husband suffers from Alaheimers which has changed him drastically. He says things that are so unlike the man that we all knew and loved which is why I believe we need to treat others with compassion; as we do not walk in another’s shoes, so to speak. ( however I do not know if this is the case with friar Goeschel)
But in addition to treating Goeschel with all the kindness and respect we need to protect him from making outrageous remarks in public.
Agreed.
I am pleased that the Arch Diocese of NY issued a sharp denunciation of his outrageous remarks so quickly.
The adjective “outrageous” implies that Father Groeschel issued those wrong comments with full consent of the will — and he obviously did not. Again, all you who so quickly rushed to judgment hopefully can use this as a learning experience for yourself: you were wrong in rushing to judgment, and your error here implies many other such errors in your thinking. Dr. Rios in particular should be ashamed of herself, as a trained scientist, for not having restraint or circumspectness — if I was her, I would be very ashmamed of myself.
The other outrage is that the editor of that fishwrap.newspaper the Natiional Catholic Registar did not hold the article from publication. That newspaper is run by EWTN which bring us the likes of Father Ken Rodgers, Fr John Corapri, Msgr Clark and other conservative poster children who had to be put out to pasture.
so in your mind the comments of this man are not outrageous? Such duplicity by a tiny, little, insignificant person.
Father Groeschel is a good man. As the article states, the comments he made were completely out of character for him. So, all of you who posted denouncing him, you can now see your rush to judgment was impulsive, wrong, and unkind.
this from a man who does nothing but judge others? This from someone who so quickly denounces others as heretics? If someone you did not like had said those very same words, under the very same conditions you would have condemned that individual, organized a mob to stone him, not to mention deny him the sacraments. HYPOCRISY!!!! Your wordds betray you. Your writings denounce you. Your duplicity condemns you.
I love you, Concerned.
What the above post really means is this — I have no time to respond at present. Your post, Concerned, is like a knat that needs to be swatted, but I am busy with other matters at present and don’t have a fly swatter immediately available.
no, it says you have nothing worthwhile to say – if you did then in the amount of time it took to post twice – as you did – you would have made a response. Now you will convince yourself that you have found the perfect response and make it at some point. This is what happens when convictions are surface level and nothing more could ever be expected of you. Further – I don’t care about your insignificant little responses. They carry nno weight – your duplicity takes any credibility from you.
I love you, Concerned. I’m just at a loss for words — you got me — nothing to say — you’ve backed me into a corner and I can’t get out.
Okay, Concerned, question #1 (the odds-makers in Vegas are bettting we’ll never get to question #2, because you’ll refuse to answer this first question): did, in fact, others (notably Dr. Rios and Tony) rusg to judgment and condemn Father Groeschel before they had all the facts? That is a yes or no question, and I await a positive or negative answer from you (there is only one correct answer to my question #1, BTW, but I want to see how your respond).
NO – there was no rush – he said the words, period. They are horrible words to come from anyone, let alone a priest. He did not apologize as soon as he said the words. You still miss the popint – you have absolutely no room to talk about this because what you accuse others of doing is exactly what you do. If you don’t agree with a person then whatever is written about them is the gospel truth. If you agree witht hte person in question then they are misunderstood or the media is against them. You condem people by your rules – rules which are different based on who the person is. This is called hypocrisy. If one of the nuns on the bus had made the very same statement – how would you have responded? Let’s see your response to that question. No matter how you slice it, no matter how you shape it, no matter how many times you try to justify it, your statements on here are filled with HYPOCRISY!
Concerned — well, you got question #1 wrong. Here’s the evidence — people were ready to almost call for Father Groeschel’s execution BEFORE they learned the context of the statement — the context importantly includes the fact that he didn’t actually mean what he said, but because of a history of head injury and aging, his mouth said things his head did not mean. People with head trauma do not always have brains that work correctly, and that head trauma can continue to progress, so that, in people like Muhammad Ali, for example, his Parkinson’s probaby was related to his boxing career. So again, Recovering, these folks, like Dr. Rios and Tony, drew horrible conclusions before they knew all the facts — and that is EXACTLY what a rush to judgment is. So, unless I am speaking with a rational person, there is no sense in my wasting my time posting further (although, if you were rational, I would be happy to defend my postion to you). Thus, unless you can answer this question correctly, this thread goes no further.
As always a response filled with duplicity. Accusing people of doing exactly what you do. You have no defense and therefore figure out some way of dodging it. A weak-minded hypocritical response by a small minded person.