Not an easy conversation topic

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I usually don't let it come up in conversation that I'm a pedophile priest victim who writes a bit about it, but one time recently I did, and the guy got an informed look on his face and said, “You know what really bugs me about all that stuff is... The Catholic Church had insurance policies for their priests raping kids.”

He was so astounded by that one fact.

I said, "That's not all.

"The Church also owns the insurance companies. So their corporation sells policies to Archdioceses around the country to cover them for pedophile priest complaints. It turns out to be a self-contained unit. They sell insurance that covers their own archdioceses, then that money is used to pay the settlements.

“They didn't lose a thing,” I found myself hollering. There in my driveway I had wound myself up to screaming. My lips had rolled back to the top of my teeth, my voice filled with gravel, as just then this thought hit me:

“Not only that.

"The crisis and scandal produced a scapegoat for the Church to use to explain all its financial problems.

"Us.

"The pedophile priest victims are now scapegoats for the Catholic Church.

"When they have to close properties that aren't producing, like elementary schools and small parishes.

"They can blame it on the pedophile priest victims and the settlements they had to pay [a small fraction of] us.”

By now I was panting and sweating.

My friend held his cigarette midair, kind of sniffed in disdain at what was happening to me before his eyes, then nodded. "Man."

Being a pedophile priest victims, makes it hard for me to hold a casual conversation.
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