A Man Tells of Priests and Their Heroics in A Decade of Scandal

When the Sexual Abuse Scandal was hitting it peak in the media I know that for many good priests it was hard time.

I knew a couple of young ones that were starting out their wonderful vocation when it was starting. I suspect for many it occurred to them that it would be so easy at times to take that collar off in public. But they never did!!!

The Deacon Beach has a great post "Most priests live lives of heroic integrity"

It links a story about a guy up in Long Island that has collected the incredible stories of priests and what they have done

The sex-abuse scandal that broke in 2002 roiled the Roman Catholic Church and in the eyes of many tarnished the image of priests. But for Farmingdale resident Ed Thompson, as horrible as the scandal was, the larger truth is that the vast majority of priests are heroes."Most priests live lives of heroic integrity ... and selfless dedication to others" in a society that worships power, wealth and fame, Thompson said in an interview.

For the past 11 years, Thompson, a trained archivist, has been conducting in-depth spoken-word histories of some 250 religious workers - priests nuns, and brothers on Long Island and in New York City.Subjects range from a nun who founded a literacy program for impoverished immigrant women, to a priest nearly killed in the World Trade Center terrorist attack, to another who served 18 years in a Third World mission.

It should be noted that the person doing this was part of a lay group that formed after the sex-abuse scandal and highly critical of many church practices..

He says: "We should talk about the rot in the church, but we should also talk about the goodness in the church," he said. "I'm simply trying to balance it and it needs to be balanced."

Amen to that!! As the Deacon says we need one this folks in each Diocese!!