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Braziers on the Porch
The sun had set, and Max had helped get the small braziers going on the porch so we could gather there in comfort before going inside to finish our cocktails. Tonight Bob stirred up a good drink, a Fjord, made with good Scandinavian aquavit and cognac. Bob used freshly squeezed orange juice and good grenadine. Naturally, he also had a pitcher of Shirley Temples on the bar table. Soon, from all the farms in our small community, all of our neighbors were on the porch, enjoying the evening and the warmth of the braziers. We'll probably be able to continue to sit out there for a few more weeks, then it will become colder and we'll have to gather in the great room.
Art and Terry, Orthodox Catholics, on Lubricity
What we call the great room is a large room divided into three areas. The teenagers usually gather in the area used to watch TV or films, and we gather in the area that's more a library than anything, where we have a grand piano some of the teenagers enjoy playing for us.
Tonight, Art and Terry began talking about the unbelievable continuation of child sexual abuse by pedophile priests. They are very devout, orthodox Catholics, but like the rest of us, they cannot condone the Church's lack of response to the abuse. Terry said she could not understand how Bishops continue to shelter their pedophile priests and how nobody is putting an end to the abuse. She told us that approximately 2,600 priests have been investigated for sexually abusing children, an unbelievably large number, she said.
Lubricity
Lubricity is lasciviousness, lewdness, oiliness. Art told us that when he thought of those priests, he thought of something much less than human. He told us he could only visualize a man with demonic eyes, slobber coming out of both sides of his mouth, fetid breath, sweat pouring from every gland, cold, clammy hands and an aura of total, absolute evil and filth. What else would rape a child?
Right Before Dinner, Announcement of a Heroine
Although we knew dinner would be served momentarily, Art wanted to tell us of a heroine in this tragic tale of child abuse. A retired Texas attorney, Sylvia Demarest, donated 100 boxes of notes, worth about 1 Million in research, to BishopAccountability.org, a Boston-based organization dedicated to investigating the child-abuse scandal. She immersed herself in the investigation of human depravity, and told reporter Rod Dreher, of the Dallas Morning News, "Nobody was doing this, and it needed to be done. We kept hearing people telling stories about finding accused priests serving in their parish. I thought, 'How are people going to protect themselves if somebody doesn't continue putting this information together." And you thought you didn't believe in angels?
Final Word
The Chicago Archdiocese is harboring 11 defrocked priests, trying to shield them from prosecution and doing all they can to avoid having them registered as sex offenders. This kind of criminal behavior by U.S. bishops continues unabated, and will continue until adults everywhere put the welfare of our children above the welfare of the coffers of the Vatican.
The Teenagers Ring The Dinner Gong
Everybody was hungry and anxious to find their place at the dinner tables. Several of the couples had planned to prepare and serve dinner tonight, and though we new a banquet of small dishes would be served to comfort us, we couldn't find comfort in tonight's talk of sexual abuse of children by pedophile priests.
Bob, as soon as we had been seated, brought out a Tuscan Tuna Bruschetta guaranteed to whet our appetite and begin a small, delicious banquet. Bob chose a great selection, and poured us a Tavel, the Grenache rosé. Judy next served us small bowls of Parmentier, the hot version of Vichyssoise, and served us small glasses of the Spanish sparkling wine Freixenet Carta Nevada. Bob and Judy had the grill ready, so very quickly the grilled fish was prepared to flaky perfection. The multitude of vegetables they grilled at the same time, and the fish, were matched very well to the Bonny Doon Vin Gris.
A little dollop of mango sorbet smoothed the transition to their next course, a variety of grilled meats served Argentine-style, with simple, grilled, garlicky new potatoes. Naturally, the Argentine Navarro Correas Malbec was a perfect choice for this part of our dinner. Judy's chimichurri sauce reminded us all of the Argentine pampas, where people live much as we do here: farming and ranching, and depending on good neighbors to keep the feeling of isolation at bay.
Since the end of the meal had a Latin American flavor, Bob and Judy had asked Carmen to make us her famous flan, which was an amazing way to end our dinner.
Before we re-joined the teenagers, Liz quoted us this poignant and important utterance of Martin Luther King, which has great bearing on the subject of not letting the church continue to harbor pedophile priests: "He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps perpetrate it."
A Hug For Our Teenagers
After a discussion that was so disturbing, we couldn't wait to go back and join the teenagers. Hugs were shared, since we wanted to let them know how much we appreciated them and how much we wanted to guarantee their safety. God forbid any of them should ever be molested.
Summary: Some slime is so filthy, so foul, once you come in contact with it you can't easily wash your hands of it, or erase it from your mind. Slime disguised in vestments is that kind.
[Note from the webmaster: As I post this issue, the media in the Minneapolis is running a story on Rev. Ryan Erickson who was concluded to not only to have child porn on his computer and is alleged to have abused at least one young boy, but it was found that he was the most likely person responsible for the 2004 killing of two men in an area funeral parlor because one of them was going to exposed him. Rev. Erickson hung himself just before he was going to be formally charged last December. He was said to have owned 16 guns. ]
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