ONE POSSIBLE IMPACT OF TUESDAYS ELECTIONS ON THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN NEW YORK

Of the course of the life of this blogsite, I have been tempted many times (but not succumbed, thank God) to commenting on American politics.

That’s not the focus of these reflections on the experience of the faithful of the Catholic Church of today.

But, sometimes, the two entities (the government and the Church) clash and then a comment or two becomes warranted.

Such is the recent development which witnessed  the Catholic Church for the first time saying it is open to looking at some type of State legal provision that would allow sex abuse victims who under current New York State law cannot seek justice to be able to do so.

Dennis Poust, a spokesman for the New York Catholic Conference headed by Timothy Cardinal Dolan, said as much, indicating that the Conference is anxiously awaiting to see the outcome of the crucial Senate elections on Tuesday.

The New York Democratic Party has promised that, if it takes control of the State Senate, it is prepared to pass the Child Victims Act which would give those who were sexually abused as children more time to bring criminal and civil cases as adults.

"Whoever ends up controlling the State Senate, we would welcome discussions to resolve this issue in a way that is acceptable to survivors first, but also to religious and non-profit organizations who would be impacted,"  Poust announced.

While the Assembly Democrats passed the bill the past two years running, the Republican-controlled Senate has regularly blocked the measure.

The Catholic Church, Orthodox Jewish Groups, the Boys Scouts of America and insurance companies have opposed the Child Victims Act, mainly over a provision that would grant a one-year window to revive old cases that are time-barred under current law.

Proust stated, "There's potential for some kind of resolution on this," without going into detail.

The Church has been dealing with two major scandals in recent months — one stemming from an explosive Grand Jury Report in Pennsylvania that found child sex abuse cases going back decades that involved more than 300 priests, including some that took place in New York.

Another has taken place in Buffalo, where the Diocese has been dealing with a widespread Priest abuse scandal of its own.

Clearly, the disgust of the American electorate with the scandalous abuse of young males by homosexual Catholic Clergy may indeed be reflected in New York State by passage of such a Child Victims Act.

Within days, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) will begin its annual General Assembly.

The USCCB appears woefully incapable of addressing all the issues related to the universal experience of shame and scandal which has done such serious damage to their credibility and the vitality of the Church itself.

And it appears even more certain that, in the face of the Bishops dragging their heels to initiate corrective measures to protect the Catholic faithful from such sexual abuse, politicians are becoming more and more eager to do their work for them.

That scenario couldn’t be scarier!