Diocese of Scranton, you are being Bamb(era)oozled again!

The Bishop of Scranton has whispered to the bulletin-reading faithful in the Diocese of Scranton. The Most Reverend Joseph C. Bambera, Bishop of Scranton, has scheduled his annual “Healing Mass for Survivors of Abuse” for Thursday, April 7, 2022.

The prelate of Slocum’s Hollow has chosen to have another Thursday matinee to promote “justice and healing for survivors of abuse.” Does anyone else see the irony in all this? Or is it just me?

Bishop Bambera covered “Father” Robert Gibson’s crimes and sent him back into a parish when he was Bishop Timlin’s lackey. Bishop Bambera ordained “Father” Gregory Loughney (his first ordination, by the way) and is now silent about Loughney’s trip into the “rabbit hole” while trying to lure two fifteen-year-old boys to his house. Bishop Bambera was oddly quiet when Ed Lock, former Music director at St. Nicholas Catholic Church in Wilkes Barre, tried to lure a fifteen-year-old boy to his home for sex at midnight. This is the Bishop holding an off-cycle mass for survivors on a weekday. It is a check in the box of a false narrative. He is complicit in all of the abuse. He does not care for victims or their families.

He has not invited survivors, like in last year’s Theater of the Absurd. An announcement on an obscure diocesan calendar buried in the website doesn’t cut it, and the bottom line in a church bulletin is not an invitation to survivors.

If Bishop Bambera had any sense of moral courage, he would call survivors to invite us to hear his public apology. Instead, the VAC will stand at the Cathedral’s door with a book of photos of “non-compliant” survivors, denying anyone the Diocese has declared a threat entry into what will be a poorly attended, little-noticed drama.

Survivors, their families, friends, and supporters should attend this performance. They should stand silently in the pews to let the Bishop know we are here and not buy his false contrition brand. The cameras will be tight on the altar to give the illusion that Bishop Bambera is speaking to a packed Cathedral. He will likely be talking to a few Altar and Rosary Society members.

If survivors arrive, I expect a personal invitation from the Bishop to the Scranton Police Department to escort them from the Cathedral. It is private property, after all.

Bishop Bambera, you have my number. I am waiting for your call.