Angry at the Catholic Church

person holding up angry mask

The Language of Righting Wrongs The other night at my Spanish class I saw a woman I knew, but I couldn’t remember where I’d met her. So I introduced myself and we did that thing where you both list all your affiliations and social activities, looking for anything that connects. One of the activities I … Read more

Unabashed Book Promotion: My Memoir, SPLIT is Here!

cover of SPLIT by Mary Dispenza

Tooting the horn for SPLIT I’m very happy to announce that my memoir, SPLIT : A child, a priest, and the Catholic Church is now available. The ebook is available from most online booksellers. The triumphant cherub on the cover is blowing her horn just in time for the holiday season. Though SPLIT deals with … Read more

On the Confession of Child Abuse

From The Washington Post: “If someone tells you a child has been abused, the confession doesn’t seem to me a cloak for hiding that business. How can you hear a confession about somebody abusing a child and the matter must be sealed up and you mustn’t talk about it?” That’s the Archbishop of York, John … Read more

God Is Not Afraid, But Bishops Are

ruined church

It appears my reluctance to embrace the Vatican’s inclusive new stance on gays was appropriate. Just a week after the initial statement, the bishops backtracked, then watered-down the original wording, then failed to accept even that. And we’re right back where we started. The AP reported: Catholic bishops scrapped their landmark welcome to gays Saturday, … Read more

Is the Catholic Church Stance on Gays Changing?

King 5 News interviewed me about the Vatican’s recent statement that all persons – even gays – deserve to be treated with dignity. I applaud the words, and absolutely agree. But I do like to see rhetoric followed up with action. And in this case, there’s been no suggestion that doctrinal modifications will be coming. … Read more

2 Major Churches, 1 Massive Problem: Pedophile Priests

Archbishop of Canterbury says he deals with sex abuse issues ‘on a daily basis’ From The Independent: Disgraced vicars convicted of child sex attacks have abused their former Church titles by posing as respected members of society, victims claimed last night, after the Archbishop of Canterbury warned that new cases of abuse by clergy were … Read more

Wake Up Vatican: The Scandal of Sexual Abuse by Priests is Far From Over

Once again the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child has loudly and clearly insisted that the Vatican and Pope Francis remove all priest child abusers and report them to local law enforcement. The committee further insisted the Vatican open all associated records so that Bishops and other church officials who have contributed … Read more