The Misplaced Priorities of the Roman Catholic Church

Yet another Irish Times op-ed piece is taking the Roman Catholic Church to task on its misplaced priorities which focus on liturgical minutia rather than important issues such as protecting minors from sexual abuse by clergy. The problem seems particularly blatant under the current Pope, Benedict XVI and his less than saintly predecessor, John Paul II who turned a blind eye towards the worldwide abuse problem until it exploded out of control in Boston and now in Ireland. The sad truth is that the Catholic Church hierarchy cares nothing about the Churches members except when it comes to power, control and, of course, money. Indeed, under Benedict XVI, the senior clergy seems increasing out of touch with reality and Benedict scraps the bottom of the barrel to appoint reactionary bishops that seem to think we are still living in the 15th century. Here are some column highlights:

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“Something seems wrong when the Vatican conducts an apostolic visitation of religious sisters in the United States to make sure they are fully obedient to the Holy See . . . but conducts no visitation of dioceses worldwide to ensure children are safeguarded,” Fr Gerard Moloney has said.
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Writing in the current issue of the Redemptorist magazine Reality , which he edits, he said: “Something seems wrong when some church people appear more interested in silk robes and the Latin Mass and east-facing altars than in examining why our church has not been a safe environment for its most vulnerable members.”
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He continued: “Something seems wrong when trying to restore a Tridentine model of church is more important to a small but vociferous minority than building a church where all the baptised feel at home and loved and included and heard and protected.”
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The abuse scandals had not only “destroyed many innocent lives” but had “also undermined the good work of so many church people at home and throughout the world”, he wrote. A fact “restorationists ignore”, he added, was that “most sex abusers and most bishops and church authorities grew up and were formed in the pre-Vatican II church”. This model of church was one “that had obvious systems failures” and “a theology that kept women and lay men firmly in their place”.
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What was needed was “not a rigid, defensive, secretive church but an open, transparent, inclusive one where power and decision-making are not the preserve of elderly celibate males but all the baptised”, he said. “Can anyone deny that if priests could marry, if spouses and children lived in presbyteries, if priestly life and family life went together, if this were part of the structure of the church, that it would make for a more healthy system?” he asked.
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He concluded the litany of abuse and cover-up “must also lead us as a church to examine our attitude to sexuality, the idealisation of virginity, and the insistence on celibacy as a requirement for priesthood”.
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Moloney hits the nail precisely on the head. Today's Church hierarchy and Pope worry about things that have nothing to do with leading a Christian life, but everything to do with grasping for power and control. Indeed, it is precisely the mindset that has driven me from the Catholic Church to a denomination than seems to do a much better job at "getting it" and treating its members with respect and decency.