The Church Scandal: A Time for Saints (by pro-life activist Lila Rose)

During my journey to confirmation, I learned that throughout the Church's history, there have been great saints and terrible sinners, even in the highest offices of the Church. Of the twelve apostles, Judas betrayed Jesus, and Peter, the first bishop of Rome, denied Him three times. Christ Himself predicted that scandals would be inevitable in the Church (Matthew 18:7). But Christ promised to never abandon His Bride (Ephesians 5:25-7).

My faith was not shaken by revelations about abuse and cover-ups at the highest levels of the Church...

The ills of the world have infected our Church. This is not surprising—no one is immune from the temptations of the day. Over the last several decades, our society has begun to celebrate immoral and harmful sexual behaviors. Whether it’s sex outside of marriage, same-sex activity, contraception, or violent sex, people have falsely come to believe that there are no rules beyond obtaining the consent of one’s “partner.”

This would be true enough if our bodies were our property, to be used or abused as we see fit. But we are both soul and body, made in God’s image and subject to his law. There are indeed rules, and they exist for our physical and spiritual health. Despite many attempts to claim a Catholic identity yet subvert the Church’s teaching on sex, these two world views are diametrically opposed. There is no middle ground.

n 1968, the papal encyclical Humanae Vitae predicted the fallout of a sexually libertine world: the breakdown of marriages, the objectification of women, and the disrespect for human life. Since then, the divorce rate has skyrocketed, sexual addiction and abuse have become rampant, and over 60 million children have been legally killed.

Many church leaders failed to confront—and in some cases even chose to accept—this new sexual ideology...

While we call for reform in our Church, we must take our personal discipleship by Christ seriously. We must study the Church’s teachings on human sexuality, so we can understand and explain to others why the Church teaches what she teaches. We should strive to lead lives of personal virtue, particularly when it comes to sexual morality (this means no contraception, no pornography, no fornication, and no divorce). We need to ask for the courage to discuss sexual morality with family, friends, and our fellow parishioners, and refuse to condone sexual immorality when we encounter it.

We should all commit to daily prayer and frequent reception of the sacraments—for the healing of our Church, for those committing sexual immorality, and for those who are victims of sexual sin, especially those most vulnerable. Now is the time to be saints—nothing less. A world in need of Christ’s love and salvation awaits us.

Lila Rose is president and founder of Live Action.

(Since founding the group Live Action, Lila has worked tirelessly to expose the propagation and cover-ups of abuse in the abortion industry. Through her investigative videos and shrewd use of new media, she has fundamentally transformed the national conversation and the direction of the Pro-Life movement. She is Planned Parenthood's enemy #1.)

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