...I am pained by what I see happening to my Church.
Whenever a priest -- a symbol of the Church's authority and legitimacy -- is accused of immoral acts with underage boys, the investigation must be complete and any the men found guilty of such acts ought not be allowed to remain in their position of leadership.
I cannot accept any hiding, stonewalling or denying what has happened.
The so-called sex-abuse scandal that demoralized the Catholic Church in the United States is now being replayed in Europe. What is particularly galling to me is that THE leader of the Church -- the Pope -- is linked to this latest crisis. No (and thankfully), he has not been accused of being a pedophile. But there is growing and convincing evidence that at minimum Pope Benedict XVI knew what was happening decades ago, and at maximum sought to sweep under the rug what was going on.
Should the Pope resign, if the evidence continues to point to his knowledge of pedophile priests and his apparent callous handling of the cases?
That's hard for me to say. If he alone is forced to resign, then are we not punishing him simply because he is the Pope? On the other hand, if active priests, bishops and cardinals who worked with then-Cardinal Ratzinger also are required to step down, then we are moving toward a more credible response.
As a final thought, the Catholic Church (and all of Christianity) is entering one of the most holy times in the Church calendar. Holy Week begins on Sunday, and Easter comes the following Sunday. How sad, to this Catholic, that this ugly chapter in the history of the Church is being played out this week.
But even worse this ugly chapter involves actions of men who should have known and done better. They failed those of us who proudly call ourselves Catholic.
4 comments:
I was thinking of you and the many other Catholics I count as friends and colleagues when I have had my various rants - publicly and private - about this.
As I define myself as (strictly non-Conformist) Protestant, i.e. a Methodist- although my parents refused to baptise me into any faith, regarding this as something I should decide for myself when I was old enough to do so, but was married in a Methodist church and my son baptised into it - of course I worry that this can seem like bigotry and a welcome opportunity to attack Papism.
As a non-Catholic of course, according to RC doctrine I am going to hell anyway - that's not a *nice* belief, is it? I mean I am sure you don't think that, but it is there in the creed and I think that typifies the out-of-date, indeed medieval dogma that should have been abandoned several hundred years ago (at least). Yet I also understand it is the very non-modern, unchanging nature of the Church that makes it so attractive to so many people.
I do have a problem with any organised, hierarchical religion, because I think the further you remove yourself from ordinary people the more it is prone to corruption, self-interest and institutional cover-up.
I am not a theologian but I can't help think that the celibacy of the priesthood and the denial of any fulfillment of normal human instincts and emotions is bound to lead to trouble. I understand the arguments about devoting your life to Christ but happily married people are at least as capable of devoting themselves to this work as a celibate priest IMHO.
Either way, the institutionalised and widespread physical and mental abuse that has wrecked so many lives over many decades needs to be atoned if the Church is to regain trust and respect. I am not sure how it can do this but am pretty sure it can never happen with the present Pontiff.
I was thinking of you and the many other Catholics I count as friends and colleagues when I have had my various rants - publicly and private - about this.
As I define myself as (strictly non-Conformist) Protestant, i.e. a Methodist- although my parents refused to baptise me into any faith, regarding this as something I should decide for myself when I was old enough to do so, but was married in a Methodist church and my son baptised into it - of course I worry that this can seem like bigotry and a welcome opportunity to attack Papism.
As a non-Catholic of course, according to RC doctrine I am going to hell anyway - that's not a *nice* belief, is it? I mean I am sure you don't think that, but it is there in the creed and I think that typifies the out-of-date, indeed medieval dogma that should have been abandoned several hundred years ago (at least). Yet I also understand it is the very non-modern, unchanging nature of the Church that makes it so attractive to so many people.
I do have a problem with any organised, hierarchical religion, because I think the further you remove yourself from ordinary people the more it is prone to corruption, self-interest and institutional cover-up.
I am not a theologian but I can't help think that the celibacy of the priesthood and the denial of any fulfillment of normal human instincts and emotions is bound to lead to trouble. I understand the arguments about devoting your life to Christ but happily married people are at least as capable of devoting themselves to this work as a celibate priest IMHO.
Either way, the institutionalised and widespread physical and mental abuse that has wrecked so many lives over many decades needs to be atoned if the Church is to regain trust and respect. I am not sure how it can do this but am pretty sure it can never happen with the present Pontiff
I was thinking of you and the many other Catholics I count as friends and colleagues when I have had my various rants - publicly and private - about this.
As I define myself as (strictly non-Conformist) Protestant, i.e. a Methodist- although my parents refused to baptise me into any faith, regarding this as something I should decide for myself when I was old enough to do so, but was married in a Methodist church and my son baptised into it - of course I worry that this can seem like bigotry and a welcome opportunity to attack Papism.
As a non-Catholic of course, according to RC doctrine I am going to hell anyway - that's not a *nice* belief, is it? I mean I am sure you don't think that, but it is there in the creed and I think that typifies the out-of-date, indeed medieval dogma that should have been abandoned several hundred years ago (at least). Yet I also understand it is the very non-modern, unchanging nature of the Church that makes it so attractive to so many people.
I do have a problem with any organised, hierarchical religion, because I think the further you remove yourself from ordinary people the more it is prone to corruption, self-interest and institutional cover-up.
I am not a theologian but I can't help think that the celibacy of the priesthood and the denial of any fulfillment of normal human instincts and emotions is bound to lead to trouble. I understand the arguments about devoting your life to Christ but happily married people are at least as capable of devoting themselves to this work as a celibate priest IMHO.
Either way, the institutionalised and widespread physical and mental abuse that has wrecked so many lives over many decades needs to be atoned if the Church is to regain trust and respect. I am not sure how it can do this but am pretty sure it can never happen with the present Pontiff
I was thinking of you and the many other Catholics I count as friends and colleagues when I have had my various rants - publicly and private - about this.
As I define myself as (strictly non-Conformist) Protestant, i.e. a Methodist- although my parents refused to baptise me into any faith, regarding this as something I should decide for myself when I was old enough to do so, but was married in a Methodist church and my son baptised into it - of course I worry that this can seem like bigotry and a welcome opportunity to attack Papism.
As a non-Catholic of course, according to RC doctrine I am going to hell anyway - that's not a *nice* belief, is it? I mean I am sure you don't think that, but it is there in the creed and I think that typifies the out-of-date, indeed medieval dogma that should have been abandoned several hundred years ago (at least). Yet I also understand it is the very non-modern, unchanging nature of the Church that makes it so attractive to so many people.
I do have a problem with any organised, hierarchical religion, because I think the further you remove yourself from ordinary people the more it is prone to corruption, self-interest and institutional cover-up.
I am not a theologian but I can't help think that the celibacy of the priesthood and the denial of any fulfillment of normal human instincts and emotions is bound to lead to trouble. I understand the arguments about devoting your life to Christ but happily married people are at least as capable of devoting themselves to this work as a celibate priest IMHO.
Either way, the institutionalised and widespread physical and mental abuse that has wrecked so many lives over many decades needs to be atoned if the Church is to regain trust and respect. I am not sure how it can do this but am pretty sure it can never happen with the present Pontiff
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