Them Papist Boys (& Girls)

So yeah,

it hasn't been easy

being Catholic,

and this is to say nothing

of the scandal

that has blackened

the Church's reputation

in recent decades,

predatory priests

preying on children.

In some ways

it's the most convenient scandal ever,

as it vindicates

an argument 

that has been made

throughout American history,

which becomes harder to see

in an age

where being Christian at all

is becoming harder to see

than ever.

But them papist boys (and girls!)

have had to worry about this

at about the same clip

as any other minority

and even bundled

in the same subset communities,

such as the immigrant

Franco-Americans

from which I descend,

aging communities,

dwindling,

with all the children

hidden away

except the fundamentalists

filling up the pews

in Latin masses.

There are no excuses

for these priests

but it's a bit

misleading

to claim

they represent

the whole faith,

which is itself

a plea

to see past

human fallibility,

to believe

we can do better.

And as such,

it's disingenuous

to claim you're doing better

by pretending

these people

who have built their entire lives

around a faith 

built on such belief,

are surplus to current needs.

Somewhere

the idea of integrity

went into hiding.