You hit the nail square on the head with this one, Gustavo! May be a good idea to start calling Todd and his ilk "Puppet," instead of "Bishop." And the term "shepherd" surely does not apply to the puppets except in the sense of leading the sheep to slaughter. Loved the cartoon.

I attended Bishop Geoffrey Robinson lecture at Temple University in Philadelphia which was the first stop on his United States tour.

It was a distinct pleasure to meet and listen to his frank commentary on the present state of the Roman Catholic Church in the modern world vis-a-vis its continuing sex abuse problems.

Even though we Americans had to wait for an Australian bishop to talk so freely and frankly as he expanded on the topics discussed in his book, "Confronting Sex and Power in the Catholic Church," his honesty on the subject was something that has rarely been found here. In fact, no sitting bishop in the United States has spoken so openly about the very real problems that Robinson speaks of in his book.

Arriving at about the same time as Bishop Robinson arrived in the United States were the disparaging comments made about him by the Australian Bishops' Conference in their unsigned letter followed by a letter from Roger Cardinal Mahony of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, California denying him permission to speak in the archdiocese - permission Robinson neither asked for nor needs.

Sadly, secrecy has gotten church leadership to this terrible impasse but only conversation with the laity will lead to solving the church's problems.

How sad that the Australian bishops saw fit to attempt to silence discussion at this particular moment.

Did not Pope Benedict recently enjoin church leadership to "do everything that is possible" to alleviate this scourge of sexual abuse?

Or are the pope's words just more "sounding brass and tinkling cymbals," 1 Corinthians 13:1-2?

Sister Maureen Paul Turlish
Victims' Advocate

Sister Maureen Paul Turlish
Victims' Advocate
New Castle, Delaware
maureenpaulturlish@yahoo.com

We applaud your comments on the arrival of Bishop
Geoffrey Robinson's arrival/speech this week.

As with the Pope's visit, the Cardinals who turned a blind eye to the cries of the victims, and the priests they protected, still remain in positions of power. One Los Angeles BAND strives to remind people everywhere that this tragedy still exists.

In an effort to assist our dear friend Ron in spreading the word about his song, “Roger Mahony Hymn” regarding the Priest Sex Scandals & the
Victims, my team created a video we recently launched on YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuspIETZp6E

We are so privileged to have the subjects of the
Oscar-nominated, award-winning documentary, “Deliver Us From Evil”, Ann Marie Jyono and Nancy Sloan, whom we had contacted, STRONGLY embracing the song, generously offering
some personal photos to use in the piece. We are contacting as many people, survivors, foundations and organizations as we can in hopes of generating a ripple effect that will reach worldwide.

Ron's intent is reigniting and spotlighting a topic that has been swept under the holy carpet. We would greatly appreciate it if YOU too would share with others Ron's song/video.

Action will always speak louder than words, but words in THIS case, speak volumes.

Thanks so very much.

Warm regards,

K. Dennis
Video Producer

The American bishops need to learn (cf. Jesus Christ) that being a leader does not equal covering your ass at any cost. The various letters "banning" Robinson were laughable.

Oh and apparently Bp. Brown didn't even bother to read Robinson's book that he so strenuously objects to:

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/robinson-bishop-bishops-2065124-church-book

At a minimum, doesn't Brown have some minions that could read the book FOR him? (Maybe Ryan could read it after work if he isn't too dizzy from all the spinning.) If Brown has a problem with some doctrinal issues, tell us what they are! Give us your reasoned argument! Your vocation is to be a TEACHER after all; the role of the bishop is called the church's "teaching office" for a reason.

Perhaps Brown should retire and self-publish invectives at Amazon.com, where most reviewers also can't be bothered to actually read the book.