Abused Priests

They are the forgotten victims of the Catholic Church hierarchy's history of condoning and covering up child and teen sexual abuse by priests. But many, many younger priests or seminarians have been abused and raped by other priests, and the hierarchy, as ever, ignored them or intimidated them into silence until very recently. It's hard to fathom the life-long pain of rape, but this one priest, as reported in today's Washington Post, entered 35 years of depression, flashbacks and isolation. No one listened. No one wanted to know. How he managed to serve God in that time only God can know. That he recently found the courage to talk about it must be some small blessing. That he can no longer serve the very bishops complicit in such a system is understandable. That the hierarchy should seek once again to humiliate him is simply despicable.