Blame Game

Once again we have an inappropriate sexual encounter between a priest, The Rev. Anthony Mercieca and a young boy, Mark Foley (R-FL), and once again it was not the priest's fault. "I have to confess, I was going through a nervous breakdown. I was taking pills - tranquilizers. I used to take them all the time. They affected my mind a little bit" said the priest.

Affected my mind a little bit. Hmm... And just what exactly is a little bit? Enough to make you want to have sex with a young boy? I mean were you not thinking of that BEFORE you took the pills? I know, I know, the pills made you think like a sexual deviant and the closest person to you at the time just happened to be a young boy. Without the pills you would have chosen a young girl instead.

Members of the clergy are supposed to be representatives of God. They are supposed to comfort and heal us in times of trouble and give us spiritual guidance. I guess "comfort" is a matter of opinion. Perhaps this particular priest, The Rev. Anthony Mercieca, was only interested in "comforting" himself. Perhaps the pills distorted his view of the word "comfort."

As a Catholic when you step into that confessional and confess your sins you are talking to God through the priest. You admit your sins and are absolved. Well this particular priest so far has not admitted his sins.

Oh he admitted that he fondled the lawmaker as a teen, "Once maybe I touched him or so, but didn't, it wasn't -- because it's not something you call, I mean, rape or penetration or anything like that you know. We were just fondling." The priest also admitted to massaging Foley while the teen was naked, skinny-dipping with Foley at a secluded lake in Lake Worth and being naked in the same room with him on overnight trips.

Mercieca, however, rejected the idea that he sexually abused Foley, saying, "See abuse, it's a bad word, you know, because abuse, you abuse someone against his will. But it was just spontaneous, you know?"

Just so I have this right. He fondled him but that was ok. It wasn't abuse because he seemed to like it. It wasn't rape or penetration just fondling. The fondling was "exaggerated" and "spontaneous."

Either way we have a priest, a grown man, fondling a young boy. If the young boy started the fondling the priest should have stopped it immediately. Hell the priest should never have been in that situation to start with.

The priest also questioned the timing of Foley's allegations against him, suggesting the six-term congressman only recently became bothered by their relationship.

"Let's say it was 40 years ago, almost 40 years ago, so why bring this up at this late stage?" Mercieca asked. "Anyway, he will overcome it, with a psychiatrist you know. Mark is a very intelligent man."

Yes Mark is a very intelligent man which is why he brought it up. He, like the priest, is smart enough to know that if you get caught in a sexually compromising position with young boys blame someone or something else.

The priest blamed the nervous breakdown and the pills. Mark Foley blamed the priest and his new found alcohol problem. Neither man is willing to admit that they themselves are responsible for their own actions.

So play the blame game. See if the public and the church buys it. If not they can go back to a Catholic church, walk into a confessional, have a seat and tell the priest that hey, "The devil made me do it."