I hate to go about it this way, but I' starting with a negative approach to this question. (This is a topic that will take more than one post. I promise I won't post them all in a row). Maybe today's post would be more properly called, "After all that's gone on in the past ten years, how could you possibly still be Catholic?" It breaks my heart to admit it, but it's a fair question. I would not have you think me a Pollyanna-ish naif. For those who know me well, naive is about the last word they would use to describe me.
So, after the John Geoghan and the Lawrence Soens and all of the other priests who have abused children - and after finding out it wasn't just in the US - how could I still be Catholic? Why would I want to claim that status?
After the scandal of some bishops being complicit in the cover-up - an angry prosecutor in Boston said that the only reason Cardinal Bernard Law, Archbishop of Boston, wasn't indicted was that the statute of limitations had run out on any chargeable offense - how could I still be Catholic? Why would I be proud of that status, as I am?
Fair questions.
Soon after Jesus' earthly ministry the church was started. Most accounts would place the beginning of the church on Pentecost. For some years afterward Christianity was thought of as another Jewish sect, similar to the Essenes. At one point both Christians and Jews realized that this new group was different enough in thought, doctrine and practice that it could no longer be thought of as Jewish. And, thus, the Christian Church as a separate entity from the Jewish synagogue took more definitive form.
The Church, as founded, was a perfect, pristine institution. But, the Holy Spirit made probably the only mistake She has ever made. She let people in. You know, real life, flesh-and-blood human beings. Warts and all. And She continues to let these warted warped humans stay. My dominant image of church: not a runway fashion show, but a hospital for souls. I saw one church newsletter - denomination to remain nameless - that closed with "Let's all impress Heavenly Father with our righteousness." I didn't know whether to gag or laugh out loud.
So where does that put me with the sex scandals of the Church? I'm furious. Read that, "FURIOUS!!!" My first thought is for the victims. Of all the people in this world around whom you should be absolutely completely safe, a minister of any denomination should be thought of in the same class as parents, the doctor, your teacher. And I am outraged that some priests - and some teachers, and some doctors, and some parents, and some ministers - have not lived up to this. Those kids often are scarred forever.
I see no reason for any priest, teacher,minister or anyone else in a position of authority to be treated less severely in the criminal justice system than anyone else. Quite the opposite. That would mean that anyone complicit in a cover-up should be treated as an accessory.
I'm not impressed by the press' coverage of this issue. It has fed an anti-Catholic bias that is already well-fed. One would easily lose sight of the fact that the vast, VAST majority of priests understand celibacy as a gift from God to the church. They understand the vow they took, and live out that vow faithfully. Most of those folks don't get stories in the newspapers. And there's always the cluck-clucking of those who say, "I knew they did it. They all do it." No they don't. If you must spew your ignorance - if you must advertise how ill-informed you are - you may do so. Please be aware that I, for one, will be paying no attention to you.
I'm angry because this has provided grist for the mill of the right-wingers within our church who think that screening gay men out of the seminaries and priesthood will solve all ills. It wouldn't. If you were to draw up a profile of the pedophile, the word "gay" wouldn't be there. These people are usually straight. Often they are or have been married. Often they are divorced or their marriages are troubled because they don't deal well with relationships with equals.
Besides, if you understand celibacy, and have taken a vow to it, what difference could it possibly make whether you are gay or straight? The Catholic Church has never held sexual orientation to be sinful.
I'm upset because the left-wingers in our church also ride their hobby horses over it. "Let them marry! That'll relieve the sexual pressure!" Please see the paragraph above about the difficulties of pedophiles in relationships. Pedophilia, like rape, is not a crime of sex. It's a crime of power. If you take a pedophile and marry him, you don't have a non-pedophile. You have a married pedophile.
I did note that this will take more than one post to cover. One's faith is a deep issue, and if discussed at all should be discussed in depth. But, the scandal has had such prominence that, before discussing the positives I find in my faith, I have to acknowledge the negatives we've had.
As always, I'd love your thoughts. Thanks for hanging with me!
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