Belgium’s longest-serving bishop Roger Vangheluwe, 73,has resigned his post, admitting to be a disgusting, vile, sinful human being two and a half decades ago. “When I was not a bishop, and some time later, I abused a boy. This has marked the victim forever. The wound does not heal. Neither in me nor the victim.” So, full pension and benefits, then, and no prison time? In other news, the government of Belgium just collapsed?
jeem
Meh. European Parliaments collapse all the time when there’s a flimsy coalition forming the majority.
Cam
So he is being offered up as a sacrificial cow, because he is retaining all his benefits etc… what about the hundreds and hundreds of priests still out there? And I’m sorry but if this guy did it once, there is no doubt he has done it multiple times since then. What a load.
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
In what language is “wounding” a boy a euphism for fucking a boy??????
B
No. 3 · PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS wrote, “In what language is ‘wounding’ a boy a euphism for fucking a boy??????”
It is a euphemism in Vaticanese, applicable in many situations so that the person hearing it won’t be quite sure as to what actually happened.
You know, just like “collateral damage” is a military euphemism that can meaning blowing up children because a bomb missed its target or was powerful enough to blow up more than just the intended target.
B
Bishop Roger Vangheluwe statement, “The wound does not heal,” should be called the Parsifal defense, named after the Wagnerian opera about knights guarding the “holy grail” complete with a “wound that will not heal” due to being pierced by the “holy speer,” stolen while in flagrante or pretty close. The prelude to Act 1 sets the mood for contrition and redemption ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7w17MamPY7A ) a subject Wagner was an expert on due to his propensity for seducing his patrons’ wives, which usually led to financial difficulties as they cut him off.
For those who want more of the plot, read
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parsifal#Act_1 : “In a forest near the castle of Monsalvat, home of the Grail and its Knights, Gurnemanz, eldest Knight of the Grail, wakes his young squires and leads them in prayer. He sees Amfortas, King of the Grail Knights, and his entourage approaching. Amfortas has been injured by his own holy spear, and the wound will not heal. … Amfortas was given guardianship of the Spear, but lost it as he was seduced by an irresistibly attractive woman in Klingsor’s domain. Klingsor grabbed the Spear and stabbed Amfortas: this wound causes Amfortas both suffering and shame, and will never heal on its own.”
“Squires returning from the king’s bath tell Gurnemanz that the balsam has eased the King’s suffering. Gurnemanz’s own squires ask how it is that he knew Klingsor. He solemnly tells them how both the Holy Spear, which pierced the side of the Redeemer on the Cross, and the Holy Grail, which caught the flowing blood, had come to Monsalvat to be guarded by the Knights of the Grail under the rule of Titurel– Amfortas’ father. Klingsor had yearned to join the knights but, unable to keep impure thoughts from his mind, resorted to self-castration, causing him to be expelled from the order. Klingsor then set himself up in opposition to the realm of the Grail, learning dark arts, claiming the valley domain below and filling it with beautiful flower-maidens to seduce and enthrall wayward Grail Knights. It was here that Amfortas lost the Holy Spear, kept by Klingsor as he schemes to get the Grail, too. Gurnemanz tells how Amfortas later had a holy vision which told him to wait for a “pure fool, enlightened by compassion” (“Durch Mitleid wissend, der reine Tor”) who would finally heal the wound.”
Scot
Has anybody thought that maybe “wounded” is easier to hear than fucked, for the victims?
I hate the catholick church and everything about it as much as the next guy but lets give its victims a bit of whats left of their dignity. Getting fucked may be fun for some guys but I doubt that most of the rape vicims want to be reminded of the details.
B
No. 6 · Scot wrote, “Has anybody thought that maybe ‘wounded’ is easier to hear than fucked, for the victims?” … the Catholic Church is a large organization and all large organizations have PR departments that determine how to spin a story to limit the damage to the organization. So, based on that, I’d assume it was spin to protect the church, not a euphemism to protect the victims.