www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Robin Williams Attacks Priests

Robin Williams attacks Catholic priests and points out lack of consequences
"We just made major fun of the Catholic Church, but ..."

New York, Jun 20, 2007 / 10:14 am (CNA).- Robin Williams has decided that he won�t pay any consequences for ridiculing the Church in public, says The Catholic League. On Monday night�s Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Williams equated all priests with pedophiles and mocked confession.

Leno invited the actor on to his show to plug his upcoming movie �License to Wed,� in which he plays a Protestant minister who forces a couple to go through marriage preparation courses. However, the experience of portraying a minister didn�t seem to engender any respect for the clergy in him.

Williams pretended to play a game with Jay Leno where a pedophile is hidden under a cup. �Here we go. Find the priest, find the pedophile. Find the priest, find the pedophile. Here you go right now. Move �em around, move �em around. Oh, you found the pedophile.�

Williams then put his hand over his groin, saying, �You have to realize that if you are a Catholic priest, you have retired this. That�s it�no more sex.� Then he took a shot at confession: �But they are going to put you in a small dark box and people are going to tell you the nastiest sexual stuff they have done.�

Bill Donahue was angered by the fact that, �Isaiah Washington lashes out at one gay person in private, and he is banished from �Grey�s Anatomy.� Robin Williams lashes out against all priests in public, and he suffers no consequence.�

Pointing out that the actor has calculated the risks of targeting the Church, Donahue quoted an interview with MoviesOnline in which Williams recently said, ��you can�t poke fun at certain religions,� but �we just made major fun of the Catholic Church but hey, they don�t blow you up.�� Donahue said this makes Williams not just �a bigot and a liar� but also �a coward.�

Lets get a contact sight to lodge our complaints and start a boycott.
Stephanos I

Robin Williams is a very talented man. An actor, comedian and probably a great parent or spouse, I don't know. But I think he went over the line on this one. It doesn't matter to me if he said Protestant ministers or Jewish Rabbis or Muslim Imams. It's just wrong to say those kinds of things to get a laugh. It's hurtful to the people who have been molested, not just by anyone in a religious life, but anywhere and by anyone. It's hurtful to a great religion that teaches compassion and love.

I'll pray for him. He needs it.

Tim

His unscripted sense of humor has frequently been crude and banal. He lives in the gutter.

I haven't found him funny for decades. He's over-hyper for my taste and his movies are pretty boring.

Michael, I agree. I think he is very much overrated as an actor and comedian. I haven't seen the Tonight show stint but I wonder how the audience reacted (and how Jay reacted). Robin Williams has no class.

Joe

I've been watching Bollywood movies recently, much of what has been released from Hollywood for the last two years have been very poorly constructed stories.

Maybe they have had a crop of poor writers for years, but I used to like some of the movies more than I do now.

I really dislike folks disrespecting members of the clergy. Yes, there are some rotten apples in every basket and we were made painfully re-aware of that with scandals like the one in Boston, but the truth is that most of those who go into the religious life do it to serve God and their fellow man. Answering their calling is not easy and it's not funny when these selfless people get mocked.

Williams obviously doesn't understand the purpose of confession or priests otherwise he wouldn't be so quick to ridicule them.Perhaps he simly needs to be informed.

Some people are beyond the help of information. They have already closed their ears.

Perhaps he needs to be Catholic so he can go to confession

I think that is really sickening and disheartening the way that the people in Hollywood are allowed to vehemently attack priests and the Holy Faith. Hollywood attacks anything and tries really to distort anything which is Sacred and what should be treated and honored with the reverence. So many of newer films are so trashy that I would not bother to go to see them.

I actually have enjoyed Robin Williams' movies for years. I think he is quite a funny individual, when he is not foul. After watching some of his interviews over the years, however, I think I would end up killing him if I ever had to take him on a lengthy road trip!

In regard to this situation, there is no excusing his behavior or his words. But understand, the scandal, however overstated in scope in the media, lies squarely on the shoulders of several of our bishops. And they still seem unwilling at a national level to address one of the core issues - homosexuality. (The Vatican seems to have no reservation when it comes to addressing this.) Not all priestly offenders were pedophiles in the strict sense. Many of their victims were teenage boys. The issue is principally pederasty, NOT pedophilia.

As one who watched a community suffer as a result of a pederast priest who also became a double murderer and a suicide victim - an extreme case to be sure - the issue still exists and those who perpetrate need to be extracted from the priestly ranks and placed in treatment. We have made great progress here, but are we to believe that none exist? Thank God our bishops seem more willing to act. Lawsuits and scandal have a way of mandating reform.

I do not agree with Robin Williams, but nor do I wish to simply dismiss the core issue (I'm not saying any of you are, BTW.). His comments mocked the pain of many people of good will, including GOOD PRIESTS and BISHOPS who are in the majority and who suffer from the crimes of their bretheren.

Just tell me where to sign.

In ICXC,

Gordo

Well said !!!

(I wish we still had the smiley for applause.)

-- John