“If eyes are always kept blindfolded, one must fear that they may become blind.” — Marcel Văn Benjamin Embley | English, français, ไทย | Living on Wabanaki land | contemplativeinthemud.comhttps://bsky.app/profile/contemplativeinthemud.comhttps://bsky.app/profile/contemplativeinthemud.com/post/3myd5nchuwk24Hello dear mudflats along Skutik (and Maine on the other side, still Peskotimuhkati land)20 Oct 2026 17:24 +0000at://did:plc:xjs4jbsduex77aes4yhpdsyn/app.bsky.feed.post/3myd5nchuwk24https://bsky.app/profile/contemplativeinthemud.com/post/3my3k7btulc2dThere will have to be a reckoning for everyone who has distorted Văn's life and message like this—starting with Hostalier—and I'll do my best to bring it in this life. [contains quote post or other embedded content]17 Oct 2026 16:47 +0000at://did:plc:xjs4jbsduex77aes4yhpdsyn/app.bsky.feed.post/3my3k7btulc2dhttps://bsky.app/profile/contemplativeinthemud.com/post/3mxyo2uzvxk2jJust to be clear, unless you mean the two pages in his autobiography about bullying, you mean: "He organized and ran a Resistance movement (same word as the Anti-French Resistance War) against clerics—priests and catechists in a de facto order—committing sexual, physical, and psychological abuse."16 Oct 2026 13:18 +0000at://did:plc:xjs4jbsduex77aes4yhpdsyn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mxyo2uzvxk2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/contemplativeinthemud.com/post/3mxbo7ildes2j“Ultimately, contemplation presents a marvelous opportunity to encounter the God who is Beauty, whom Saint Augustine described as ever-ancient and ever-new, a Beauty that captivates and continuously draws all people to himself (cf. Conf, X, 27; Jn 12:32).” — Pope Leo https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/en/speeches/2026/october/documents/20261007-patrons-arts.html [contains quote post or other embedded content]07 Oct 2026 09:50 +0000at://did:plc:xjs4jbsduex77aes4yhpdsyn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mxbo7ildes2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/contemplativeinthemud.com/post/3mwsmkjms3s2rI love the real Thérèse. Happy feast day! https://contemplativeinthemud.com/2024/02/12/therese-of-lisieux-against-abuse/01 Oct 2026 10:10 +0000at://did:plc:xjs4jbsduex77aes4yhpdsyn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mwsmkjms3s2rhttps://bsky.app/profile/contemplativeinthemud.com/post/3mwskxzs7qk2m(captions in French, original audio in English) [contains quote post or other embedded content]01 Oct 2026 09:42 +0000at://did:plc:xjs4jbsduex77aes4yhpdsyn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mwskxzs7qk2mhttps://bsky.app/profile/contemplativeinthemud.com/post/3mwrdq3iuek2qWait, you're telling me that some of the bigger news from Metz was supposed to be doubly focused on Marcel Văn, but the shenanigans of a condemned abuser took the spotlight. They're drawn to stealing his spotlight like nothing else, let me tell you. https://catholix.fr/2026/09/24/metz-un-pretre-condamne-pour-pedopornographie-fait-la-com-du-pape/30 Sep 2026 22:00 +0000at://did:plc:xjs4jbsduex77aes4yhpdsyn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mwrdq3iuek2qhttps://bsky.app/profile/contemplativeinthemud.com/post/3mwlysllo222zDid some really good historical work. Everyone writing on Văn is confident he was held in two NVN detention facilities outside Hanoi. But reading DIA reports, examining maps, reading his detention letters carefully, it becomes clear it was four (Hoả Lò is in Hanoi). ref https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service//frd/pwmia/387/110396.pdf28 Sep 2026 19:01 +0000at://did:plc:xjs4jbsduex77aes4yhpdsyn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mwlysllo222zhttps://bsky.app/profile/contemplativeinthemud.com/post/3mwlm7znnkc2i"Don't use the standard phrases of victim-blaming (of which 'it takes two to tango' is one) to mean something other than victim-blaming in the context of abuse and definitely don't make people read several paragraphs to figure it out" is an incredibly low bar to clear. But this is where we all are.28 Sep 2026 15:16 +0000at://did:plc:xjs4jbsduex77aes4yhpdsyn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mwlm7znnkc2ihttps://bsky.app/profile/contemplativeinthemud.com/post/3mw54xqive22gYesterday, homily on the universal call to holiness requiring a vocation to holy orders, religious life, or marriage. Today—since I can hardly talk around priests—handed the priest this note (the thing at the bottom is another years-long thing). As you might guess, it did not go well with Fr. Darvo.22 Sep 2026 21:05 +0000at://did:plc:xjs4jbsduex77aes4yhpdsyn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mw54xqive22ghttps://bsky.app/profile/contemplativeinthemud.com/post/3mvqmsmwqrk2iRereading Văn's letters. Age 21, he moves from Hanoi (few MEP) to Saigon (lots of MEP). Within a year, he wants his spiritual director to speak to Hanoi’s bishop about reparation: “if [MEP] refuse, history will blame them as they have blamed the colonial powers of the world” (29-09-1950). This kid! [contains quote post or other embedded content]17 Sep 2026 21:44 +0000at://did:plc:xjs4jbsduex77aes4yhpdsyn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvqmsmwqrk2ihttps://bsky.app/profile/contemplativeinthemud.com/post/3mvip45nsbc2572 years ago today, Văn took the last plane north to Hanoi, committing himself to the journey. [contains quote post or other embedded content]14 Sep 2026 18:04 +0000at://did:plc:xjs4jbsduex77aes4yhpdsyn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvip45nsbc25https://bsky.app/profile/contemplativeinthemud.com/post/3mvforwvygk2kWorking on some Văn stuff and remembering feedback on an academic version of this post: "Sadly ironic that the healing of Văn's moral injury led to his death." It's such a strange response to me. A survivor whose moral injury has abated enough to be truthful is gonna be deeply unpopular. I promise. https://contemplativeinthemud.com/2023/11/16/marcel-vans-imprisonment-and-death-and-the-moral-injury-of-abuse-part-5/13 Sep 2026 13:20 +0000at://did:plc:xjs4jbsduex77aes4yhpdsyn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvforwvygk2khttps://bsky.app/profile/contemplativeinthemud.com/post/3mv3et6gxts2g“Above all, I hope you will take the opportunity to nourish your interior life: with generous and sustained prayer before our Lord in the Tabernacle, [...] and finally by frequent contemplation of the indwelling of the Persons of the Trinity in the depth of our being.” [contains quote post or other embedded content]09 Sep 2026 10:55 +0000at://did:plc:xjs4jbsduex77aes4yhpdsyn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mv3et6gxts2ghttps://bsky.app/profile/contemplativeinthemud.com/post/3mututmgxkc2pReads earliest known writings identifying a worldwide abuse crisis in need of worldwide reform, writes preface that obscures their significance... sues presumed victim of clerical abuse Congratulations on being the winner of this year's Marie-Michel Hostalier Prize! [contains quote post or other embedded content]06 Sep 2026 11:21 +0000at://did:plc:xjs4jbsduex77aes4yhpdsyn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mututmgxkc2phttps://bsky.app/profile/contemplativeinthemud.com/post/3mur2wizelc2bAbsolutely disgusting. [contains quote post or other embedded content]05 Sep 2026 08:32 +0000at://did:plc:xjs4jbsduex77aes4yhpdsyn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mur2wizelc2b