As the Roman Catholic Church's sex abuse scandal continues to widen across Europe - a former bishop in Norway has now confessed to abusing an altar boy - the Vatican continues to blaming the media and "anti-Catholic bigotry" for the Church's horrific problem that is continuing to dismay members of the Catholic laity. Some of the laity and pundits try to defend their faith by stating that "the hierarchy is not the Church" or that "the Church is comprised of its members who adhere to their faith." While there is some truth to these statements, they ignore the fact that the Church's leadership structure is based on a feudal monarchy where the Pope is the monarch and the bishops and cardinals are the feudal lords appointed by the monarch. The laity has ZERO power to challenge the hierarchy. While the Pope has disingenuously claimed that bishops "do not work for him" the truth is that the Pope appoints and removes bishops and cardinals who in turn appoint priests to parishes and other positions. Again, the laity has NO POWER to stop this system other than to leave the Church and take their financial support with them. As a Catholic for nearly 50 years myself, I know all too well the realities of the Church's governance. So what is one to do? If you leave the Church and take your faith with you as I did to the ELCA or if you speak out and condemn the Church leadership, you are accused of "betraying" or "attacking" the Church. Blowhards like William Donohue of the Catholic League purport to be protecting the Church when in fact all they are doing is protecting the corrupt system that created the problem in the first place. So who are the true betrayers of the Church? The Pope - and a number of his predecessors -and the majority of the cardinals and bishops in the hierarchy who closed their eyes, enabled and covered up for predator priests and, of course, the predator priests themselves. Even where members of the hierarchy recognize that the problem was not caused by critics of the Church - Archbishop Martin of Dublin and recently the Archbishop of Johannesburg are two examples - they fail to go to the root of the problem: the Vatican.
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How will it all end? Frankly, I do not know. I do know, however, until the laity raises up and DEMANDS change, nothing will really change. There will be insincere apologies and efforts to punish individual priests, but the enablers and obstructors of justice will remain in their exalted positions. True defenders of Catholicism are those who refuse to relent in their criticism and who may vote with their feet and refuse to support the evil amidst the hierarchy from the current Pope on down. In her recent column Maureen Dowd quotes some of her brother's views. I found some to be most on point others not. Here are some highlights of what I agree with:
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In pedophilia, the church has unleashed upon itself a plague that threatens its very future, and yet it remains in a curious state of denial. The church I grew up in was black and white, no grays.
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A boy in my class told me much later that the same priest climbed into bed with him in 1958 at a rectory sleepover, but my friend threw him to the floor. The priest protested he was sleepwalking. Three days later, the archbishop sent the priest to a rehab place in New Mexico; he ended up as a Notre Dame professor.
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Vatican II liberalized rules but left the most outdated one: celibacy. That vow was put in place originally because the church did not want heirs making claims on money and land. But it ended up shrinking the priest pool and producing the wrong kind of candidates — drawing men confused about their sexuality who put our children in harm’s way.
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The church is dying from a thousand cuts. Its cover-up has cost a fortune and been a betrayal worthy of Judas. The money spent came from social programs, Catholic schools and the poor. This should be a sin that cries to heaven for vengeance. I asked a friend of mine recently what he would do if his child was molested after the church knew. ‘I would probably kill someone,’ he replied.
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We must reassess. Married priests and laypeople giving the sacraments are not going to destroy the church. Based on what we have seen the last 10 years, they would be a bargain.
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Sadly, the Vatican and hierarchy just continue to complain about an anti-Catholic media and people listening to "gossip." They need to look in the mirror and admit that it is they themselves who are destroying the Catholic Church.
*
In pedophilia, the church has unleashed upon itself a plague that threatens its very future, and yet it remains in a curious state of denial. The church I grew up in was black and white, no grays.
*
A boy in my class told me much later that the same priest climbed into bed with him in 1958 at a rectory sleepover, but my friend threw him to the floor. The priest protested he was sleepwalking. Three days later, the archbishop sent the priest to a rehab place in New Mexico; he ended up as a Notre Dame professor.
*
Vatican II liberalized rules but left the most outdated one: celibacy. That vow was put in place originally because the church did not want heirs making claims on money and land. But it ended up shrinking the priest pool and producing the wrong kind of candidates — drawing men confused about their sexuality who put our children in harm’s way.
*
The church is dying from a thousand cuts. Its cover-up has cost a fortune and been a betrayal worthy of Judas. The money spent came from social programs, Catholic schools and the poor. This should be a sin that cries to heaven for vengeance. I asked a friend of mine recently what he would do if his child was molested after the church knew. ‘I would probably kill someone,’ he replied.
*
We must reassess. Married priests and laypeople giving the sacraments are not going to destroy the church. Based on what we have seen the last 10 years, they would be a bargain.
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Sadly, the Vatican and hierarchy just continue to complain about an anti-Catholic media and people listening to "gossip." They need to look in the mirror and admit that it is they themselves who are destroying the Catholic Church.
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