Posted on 04/08/2010 10:02:25 AM PDT by NYer
April 7, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The near-constant battering of the Catholic Church during the past month over the sexual abuse scandal has most Catholics reeling and much of the media in a feeding frenzy, seeing the scandals as an opportunity to bring down the archenemy of the sexual revolution. This latest cycle of the sexual abuse scandal is different from that which took place in Canada and Boston years ago. It involves new and disastrous revelations daily and from all over Europe and North America, with sustained coverage in the media.
For over 35 years Pope Benedict XVI has predicted a smaller, more faithful church. The 1970 book Glaube und Zukunft, based on five lectures by then-Fr. Joseph Ratzinger given in 1969 at radio stations in Baviera and Hessen, is the first recorded mentioning of this prediction.
In those lectures the future pope said, "From today's crisis, a Church will emerge tomorrow that will have lost a great deal. She will be small and, to a large extent, will have to start from the beginning. She will no longer be able to fill many of the buildings created in her period of great splendour. Because of the smaller number of her followers, she will lose many of her privileges in society."
In discussing the matter with my colleagues the consensus is that this crisis is definitely part of that long-predicted purification. Unfortunately, however, it comes in a very confusing package. It would be easier to see truth in an obvious conflict between good and evil: where, for instance, some in the church were advocating for abortion or at least ‘choice,’ versus those who maintained the defense of the sanctity of human life.
But the murkiness of this crisis has the influence of evil written all over it.
The abuse is not exclusively tied to liberalism in the Church, such as was the case with former Milwaukee Archbishop Rembert Weakland. Weakland was a notorious liberal who, in addition to admitting to transferring priests with a history of sexual misconduct back into churches without alerting parishioners, admitted to homosexual encounters while serving as archbishop. Weakland retired in 2002 after it was revealed he paid hundreds of thousands of church dollars to a former homosexual lover who threatened to publicly accuse Weakland of sexually assaulting him.
But the ongoing and mindboggling revelations of abuse by Legion of Christ founder Fr. Marcial Maciel Degollado show that this crisis touches even what seemed like an oasis of orthodoxy.
This crisis reminds me of Christ’s prophecy in Matthew 24:24 where he warns that times will come when ‘even the elect’ will be deceived.
It shakes the faith of many as even bishops are found to be guilty not only of horrendous cover-ups and unthinkable enabling by shuffling around abusive clergy, but also of sexual abuse and perverse activity themselves.
Today’s revelations about Norwegian Bishop Georg Muller are devastating. Muller, 58, who resigned last year saying only he was unsuited to the work, now has admitted that the reason for his resignation was his sexual abuse of a 10-year-old choir boy 20 years ago.
In another devastating revelation this week, retired French Bishop Jacques Gaillot of Evreux in France said of his taking in a convicted Canadian pedophile priest in 1987, who later went on to abuse children in France: "back then, that's how the Church operated."
But at the same time the media’s coverage on the scandal must be viewed with a very critical eye, as was seen in the recent attempts by the New York Times to unjustly smear Pope Benedict.
As Colleen Raezler of the Culture and Media Institute points out, the broadcast media relentlessly pursued their objective of smearing the Catholic Church during the holiest week of the year for Catholics.
“ABC, CBS and NBC featured 26 stories during Holy Week about Pope Benedict’s perceived role in the sex abuse scandal the Catholic Church is now facing,” she reported. “Only one story focused on the measures the church has adopted in recent years to prevent abuse. In 69 percent of the stories (18 out of 26) reporters used language that presumed the pope’s guilt. Only one made specific mention of the recent drop in the incidence of abuse allegations against the Catholic Church.”
While the media is now focused on the Catholic Church, this is an attack on all Christianity and Christian morality. That is why Lutheran pastor John Stephenson has come out so strongly in defense of the pope.
Will the church survive the crisis? Believing Catholics say that it will, since Christ promised (Matthew 16:18) that the gates of Hell would not overcome it. But, as the pope predicted, it will likely be a smaller and purer church.
Many Catholics are ramping up their prayers for the church, and the pope. The Knights of Columbus are encouraging all their members around the world to join in a special novena for Pope Benedict XVI, beginning Divine Mercy Sunday, April 11, and concluding Monday, April 19, the fifth anniversary of the Pope Benedict’s election in 2005.
Canadian Catholic author Michael O’Brien, a good friend of mine, spoke with me today about the crisis. Michael warns of where he sees things going from a spiritual vantage point. And while his is a stark vision, it remains hopeful.
The famed author of the prophetic novel Father Elijah said: “It has been ever thus with the Church. Satan sifts us like wheat.”
“In a generation (if we should be granted that much more time in history), the aging self-deceived liberalism of the Churches in the West will be gone, as dead wood that has dropped from the tree. At the same time, the internal rot that has disguised itself as orthodoxy will have been burned away by trial and tribulation, indeed by persecution.”
I’m hoping the smaller more faithful Church will come about because abortion will be treated by the bishops as what they say it is.
Freegards
Perhaps not. However, I will bet that it is mostly tied to liberalism in the Church. Someone once told me that you can fall off the Barque of Peter from either the left side or the right side. I agreed with him, but maintained that the rails are shorter on the left, and thus it is easier to fall from that side!!
I don't see it as an attack on Christianity and certainly not an attack on Christian morality. The things that are being revealed and attacked are not Christian morality at all.
I'm surprised that Europe didn't reveal these things when the U.S. dealt with it's Catholic abuse coverup charges a few year back.
This is a downside of having a top down hierarchy with insufficient independent checks and balances. The abuse not only continued but was covered up. It's also possibly a fault of the previous pope, who I understand was reluctant to hear and try charges of abuse for fear that they were trumped up charges.
Protestant churches do deal with some of the same stuff. But because at least some of us are more democratic we have better checks and balances and can stop and address abuse quickly. The downside is that since we don't have an hierarchy there is no formal process that I'm aware of to alert other churches. That means there is no cover-up, but no protection to keep the abuser from preventing the same thing in another church. Provided of course he doesn't try to use the previous church as a reference.
I don't think we get quite as much of the same type for a couple of reasons. I suspect, we are more outspoken against homosexuality, which drives at least some intending to act on those impulses away. Our pastors are allowed to marry, and therefore aren't as tempted. But they are by no means temptation free.
That's my opinion....DannyTN, Southern Baptist.
What a coincidence. Only yesterday I read the following article from the Associated Baptist Press.
Opinion: Catholic sex-abuse cases share window in Baptist house
Perhaps you didn’t notice that this is a Catholic Caucus thread.
I have mixed feeling about the national registry. I think we probably should have done it.
But what are the chances a church that didn't prosecute is going to report an individual to the registry? It seems to me that placing a person on the registry without first filing legal charges, opens a church to lawsuits. The churches need to prosecute.
A registry could collect other issues such as admissions of homosexuality or extramarital affairs. Our local Baptist church has dealt with both in recent years. An adult youth leader resigned because of an extra-marital fling that occurred on a youth trip no less. Fortunately it wasn't with one of our youths. And a church administrator resigned and admitted he was a homosexual, but not before causing a lot of discord in the church. Which really the church should have recognized and dealt with earlier. But in these matters you have to walk a careful legal line.
I wonder if a registry would prevent churches from doing the justice system search? I wonder how many churches do a justice system search anyway? I bet few do. So a registry might get used more.
I noticed, that's why I put my affiliation at the bottom of my post.
I don't think I've posted anything particularly anti-catholic, either. Unless you think my suspicion that the catholic hierarchy has insufficient checks and balances is anti-catholic. But then I'd say the current crisis would support my assertion. And that assertion was a constructive criticism to my Catholic brothers in Christ to build them up and make sure there is proper accountability within their church as scripture requires.
Why? Can I not post at all on a Catholic caucus as a Southern Baptist?
Under the zero tolerance policy adopted by the Catholic Church in the US, ANYONE who comes in contact with children - be it at a school, in church, afterschool program, camp, etc. - must be undergo a background check that includes fingerprinting. I am in a small parish with a few children in our rel ed program. It is already a challenge to get volunteers to teach, even more so when it entails both a background check and 2 day video seminar.
What frustrates Catholics more than anything else, is the constant attack on our Church. George Weigel wrote an excellent Opinion piece for The Statesman. In it, he notes:
In the United States alone, there are reportedly tens of millions of victims of childhood sexual abuse. In the years between 1991 and 2000, according to Virginia Commonwealth University researcher Charol Shakeshaft, 290,000 students were sexually abused in American public schools. Worse yet, studies indicate that 40 percent to 60 percent of sexual abuse takes place within families — often at the hands of second husbands or live-in boyfriends.
If the media is sincerely aghast at childhood sex abuse, then they certainly have their work cut out for them. I'm not holding my breath, though.
I know that's frustrating.
Oh and I left out that you get attacked because much of the MSM medial is leftist and gay and vehemently anti-Christian. People are coming to realize that though, and starting to consider the source, so there is hope.
“...She will no longer be able to fill many of the buildings created in her period of great splendour...”
40 years on, this is now obvious in Europe and much of the USA.
One other point - God will favor other peoples and places. We in the West have “dropped the ball.”
For example, I have visited Churches in Vietnam. One convent I visited recently built a new Church - and on Sundays it is standing-room-only and over-flowing to their courtyard - 700-800 people go to Mass at one time.
The Eurotrash in Rome and the Post-Vat II Bishops brought this all on themselves, and the laity should have been forming virtual lynch mobs instead of rushing to defend clerics and bishops who were exposed by the secular authorities to be involved in acts of perversion.
Cleansing is indeed going on in the Church, but it will take another 20-30 years until the "pipes are clean and operational."
I can see that NYer is OK with it, so I may have been out of line. In which case, overlook my post.
It actually does happen occasionally that people who have an “attitude” about Catholicism come on a Catholic caucus thread.
Hopefully this won’t be an opportunity to take nuanced pokes at the Church. I think that faithful and informed Catholics are already painfully aware that the “checks and balances” that were in place at one time weren’t getting the job done right.
However, I also think that this obviously terrible problem is now being addressed as stringently as possible and that there hasbeen/is almost an over-kill about this subject on these threads.
“Can’t I post at all on a Catholic Caucus as a Southern Baptist?”
I guess you can. It’s happening. :-)
>>”Kool Aid Catholics” look even worse. <<
Get over yourself. I’m offended by it.
But I didn’t drink any Kool-aid, yet I understand from working Psych that all but a few of these Bishops listened to the “experts” at the time who said these priests could be “cured”. A bit of time in therapy, a change of scenery and all would be right as rain.
Sorry, blaming the Bishops for this is only through the lens of modern psychology. Blame the “experts” who were SO wrong, it wasn’t funny. They sent, not only sick priests but sick teachers, sick daycare workers right back into the candy store.
Blame them.
No you may not.
Caucus threads are closed to any poster who is not a member of the caucus.
Ah, then I apologize and won't reply to this thread further.
In that case, why is Clemenza here then?
He refers to himself a “non-believer” and a “secular humanist”.
Saint John Eudes said that when God is angry with His people, He sends them bad priests as a chastisement.
Here is what he wrote in his book, The Priest, His Dignity and Obligations:
“The most evident mark of God’s anger and the most terrible castigation He can inflict upon the world are manifested when He permits His people to fall into the hands of clergy who are priests more in name than in deed, priests who practice the cruelty of ravening wolves rather than charity and affection of devoted shepherds ...
“When God permits such things, it is a very positive proof that He is thoroughly angry with His people, and is visiting His most dreadful anger upon them. That is why He cries unceasingly to Christians, ‘Return O ye revolting children ... and I will give you pastors according to My own heart’. (Jer. 3:14,15) Thus, irregularities in the lives of priests constitute a scourge upon the people in consequence of sin.”4
Saint John Eudes warns us that as punishment for man’s sins, God will send us priests who are not according to His own heart, who have a different spirit from that of the Sacred Heart of Our Lord, who have a different heart from that of Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart.
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