Today, I am guilty of plagiarism. Yesterday, I mentioned that Lance Armstrong’s cheating on the cycle racing itself and then lying about it was a terrible thing to do, but as bad as his initial offenses were, it was the cover-up that really pushes him off the pages of history. In that little plug, I suggested that we always tell the truth. Today, I am going to practice what I am preaching.
I am a plagiarist. I am in a hurry to get this little piece on to the computer and I really don’t have a good idea. However, I looked at a delightful greeting card that I had just received from a wonderful nun, Sister Joan Reisch, SMIC, who worked for many years in Austin in the world of healthcare. The card she sent said and I copy it shamelessly:
1. The path is not straight.
2. Mistakes need not be fatal.
3. People are more important than achievements or possessions.
4. Be gentle with your parents.
5. Never stop doing what you care most about.
6. Learn to use a semicolon.
7. You will find love.
I don’t know who Marion Winik is but her thought processes are clear and direct. The one I liked the most is number six, learn to use a semicolon! Now that is good advice and we all should follow it.

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I think that most of us have had enough of Lance Armstrong for a while. This is yet another example of the fact that when we do bad things the best line of action is to admit it. Invariably the cover-up is much worse than the original offense. Richard Nixon was a great example of that. Now we have the mighty Lance Armstrong. Lying is despicable but when you lie, lie, lie and continue on for years, even when your lies hurt and crush other people, finally being forced to come clean does not in any way purify the offender.
I am amused by TV commentators often asking the rhetorical question as to whether or not Lance Armstrong can redeem himself by the process in which he has been passing through for the last two weeks. Redeem himself? The damage has been done and now after nearly a decade of lying the American people are still very doubtful that he is really telling the whole truth now. He has had his years in the sunshine and received the honors of one who is supposed to be a great champion. Now he is in the shadows and I think the skies may get darker still.
We should all try to do good and avoid evil but if human frailty brings you into mistakes and error, the best, safest and easiest response is to tell the truth.
 

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Several times in my blog, I have commented, respectfully and positively, about the long delayed but gradually improving Church’s response to the sexual scandal of the last 10 to 15 years. Back in February, there was an important meeting in Rome on the subject and one of the speakers was Monsignor Charles Scicluna. Monsignor Scicluna is important because he is the Promoter of Justice in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the man responsible for dealing with these tragic abuse cases. In his speech to the symposium, he compared the “ecclesiastical cover up” with the Mafia bosses who enforce secrecy of their own criminal actions. He pointed out that the failure of the Church to ensure justice for the victims is no less a scandal than the abuse itself.

“It was a crime in canon law to show malicious or fraudulent negligence in the exercise of one’s duty,” Msgr. Scicluna said, indicating that bishops could be deposed from their sees for falling down in their duty in this respect.

Writing in the February 11th issue of the London Tablet (in my opinion, the most thoughtful Catholic publication in the English language), Robert Mickens states that, “Unfortunately the event has revealed a dark side. And that is the sad fact that there are still powerful men in the Roman Curia and the hierarchy who continue to downplay the seriousness of clergy sexual abuse. This is reflected by the fact that the symposium was not “sponsored” by the Holy See and took place more than a mile away on the other side of the Tiber.”

Onward through the fog.

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