St. Maria Goretti Controversy?

[MissyP89]

[quote name='CatherineM' timestamp='1312077369' post='2278789']
It sounds like she stood up for herself to death.
[/quote]

Indeed. Really, she told up for his dignity, too. She didn't want him to go to hell, either.

[BarbTherese]

It sounds to me as if the poster was probably looking for a reason or reasons to state why she had decided to leave The Church. The poster certainly does sound very wounded and also very angry. I dont know what Pope Benedict meant but certainly did not read it as if he was calling rape a "childhood pleasure". Even if he did mean (which I am very confident he did not) that rape was a "childhood pleasure" it would cause me to have real second thoughts about Pope Benedict, but not to leave The Church. But that is me and we are all different and are coming from different places, with our own wounds and scars, struggles and difficulties, as well as our own smattering of the virtues - or more.
Second thoughts also tell me that children can be very curious about their sexuality and may not find such explorations unpleasant unless of course they have a developed sensitivity to rightful and wrongful behaviour - although I have no real idea of what Pope Benedict may have meant, if the translation is accurate.

[tinytherese]

St. Maria's father was dead by the time her attacker began making advances towards her and she didn't tell her mother what he was doing. By canonizing her, in no way is the Church condoning the fact that she didn't tell anyone what Alessandro was doing to her. In turns out that she actually did try to defend herself from him by biting and scratching him when he tried to rape her. The "childhood pleasure" is most likely referring to the fact that he tried to get her to have sex with her but she refused that pleasure saying that it would be a sin to do so. When she refused, he then tried to do it with her by force. I keep hearing her being referred to her unofficially as "a martyr for chastity."

[Papist]

[quote name='Lil Red' timestamp='1312057805' post='2278616']
I received this comment on my blog, under the post of [url="http://oxyparadoxy.blogspot.com/2011/07/st-maria-goretti-virgin-and-martyr.html"]St. Maria Goretti's feast day[/url]:


I have no idea what this person is talking about. advice?
[/quote]
The person is referring to Pope Pius XII's homily at St. Maria Goretti's Canonization. Here is the part being referred to.
[quote]From Maria's story carefree children and young people with their zest for life can learn not to be led astray by attractive pleasures which are not only ephemeral and empty but also sinful. Instead they can fix their sights on achieving Christian moral perfection, however difficult and hazardous that course may prove. With determination and God's help all of us can attain that goal by persistent effort and prayer.

[/quote]
As you can see, the Pope was not referring to rape as an attractive pleasure, but rather pleasures of the flesh in general. As St. Maria Goretti chose death before giving up her purity, the Pope was stating young children today can look to St. Maria Goretti for encouragement and support. Obviously, the person has an ax to grind with the Church and needs to twist things in order to be comfortable with his/her self. My guess this person disagrees with the Church on sexual moral issues.

[krissylou]

Well, I've heard a lot of people, especially women who grew up in the Church in the 1950s and 60s talk about hearing St. Maria Goretti as an example of "Good girls don't let sexual assault happen to them."

And the "Martyr to purity" can easily be taken to imply that if Alessandro had completed the rape and Maria had survived that this would have made her "impure." Which is hogwash.

One can perfectly well believe that sex belongs in marriage and still be horrified at a tendency to blame victims of sexual assault. And Maria Goretti's story has often been used in this way -- not always, but it happened a lot. "She died to protect her virtue ..." ummm, no.

(Note: when discussing requirements for 'consecrated virginity' I think it is VERY VERY telling that it talks about people who have never experienced *voluntary* sex. I.e. a rape victim is a virgin in the eyes of the Church and could be a Consecrated Virgin if so called. Well done, Church!)

More recently, Maria has often been held up as a patron of victims. Which strikes me as quite appropriate indeed.

[Papist]

[quote name='krissylou' timestamp='1314110525' post='2293707']
Well, I've heard a lot of people, especially women who grew up in the Church in the 1950s and 60s talk about hearing St. Maria Goretti as an example of "Good girls don't let sexual assault happen to them."
[/quote]
I never heard of such a saying. Makes no sense.


[quote name='krissylou' timestamp='1314110525' post='2293707']
One can perfectly well believe that sex belongs in marriage and still be horrified at a tendency [b]to blame victims of sexual assault[/b]. And Maria Goretti's story has often been used in this way -- not always, but it happened a lot. "She died to protect her virtue ..." ummm, no.
[/quote]
You can blame what I bolded on Alfred Kinsey.

Virtue? Is virtue synonymous with purity? I don't understand.

[tinytherese]

I hope that my post didn't come off as what krissylou talked about regarding blaming the victim. That wasn't my intention. St. Maria refused to have sex with Alessandro AND THEN he tried to force himself on her. She urged him not to do it because rape is a great sin and he would go to hell for it. After he didn't manage to rape her and after stabbing her, she forgave her attacker. Now that is something to imitate. As someone who has experienced sexual assault (but not to the point of rape) I see value in lifting her up as a saint.

[MithLuin]

The virgin martyrs of the early Church often had their purity attacked. Some of them were clearly raped prior to their martyrdom. They are still referred to as virgin martyrs, because they are. At no point did they condone or consent to the actions of their torturers. Some modern day martyrs have been raped, too, and this does not sully their purity.

It is true, however, that descriptions of Maria Goretti from the '50s sometimes emphasized that she was *not* raped - fighting back and dying were the steps she took to preserve her virginity, etc. I think that this offers a warped understanding of sexual assault and what the Church teaches about sin and culpability, and it's just as well we not repeat that version of hagiography.

The pope's words at her canonization refer to her resistance to an attempt at seduction. How many young girls fall victim to the lines that older boys feed them? 'If you really loved me, you would....,' 'no one will ever know,' etc. Her steadfast refusal might mean that she felt no temptation in that regard, or it may mean that her well-formed conscience gave her the wisdom she needed to see through such lies. Either way, it's certainly an example for young people to not give in to such things, even if statuatory rape is still rape.