Priests as `predators'

I cannot recall a time when I felt more repulsed than after reading the articles reporting on the sexual abuse within the archdiocese of Louisville. Story after chilling story of sexual predators violating innocent children and adolescents.

To add insult to injury, several of these "men of the Lord" decided to choose victims who were even more vulnerable that the average kid. The one article refers to a young boy who had buried his brother just a week before his traumatic encounter with his parish priest. The same article heartbreakingly describes one young family of fatherless children reaching out to the same priest in search of a father figure. These two stories alone are beyond nauseating and cause me and many of my fellow Catholics a great deal of anger.

Anger at the sick men who perpetrated these crimes but even more anger at the man who repeatedly and arrogantly put Catholic children in harm's way. "His Holiness," Archbishop Thomas Kelly. Having gone to Catholic grade school, high school and college, I am mortified by what Kelly represents.

The revelations made in recent months only further my frustration with the faith I was taught and embraced. With archbishops across the country playing innocent, the male dominance in our church translates to nothing more than a perverted, twisted good ol' boy network. And to think these are the same men who wouldn't allow my parents to received certain sacraments because they were divorced. How ludicrous!

It is understandable how some victims and perhaps some non-victims feel they must leave the Catholic Church due to the atrocities that have been allowd to take place. However, I will not leave and let the evil cycle of negligence win. I love my parish, I respect my priest, and I look forward to my children enjoying the same sense of community it provided me growing up.

The only way for healing to truly begin is for Kelly to acknowledge his failure to protect the children he preached guidance to and to pray very hard for forgiveness as he resigns his position within our church.

Renee Hook
Louisville, 40205