Posted on 06/13/2002 5:20:21 AM PDT by maryz
As the American bishops meet this week in Dallas, the prayers of every faithful Catholic and most Americans of good will go out to them. Three large issues are raised by what we have learned.
The first is how should church policy deal with acts of pedophilia and the sexual use of minor teens by Catholic clergy? The second question: Why are so many Catholic clerics accused disproportionately of sexual abuse of boys (including teens), and what can we do in priestly formation to prevent it?
The third question is: How do we respond to the revelations of systemic sexual corruption in church leaders, including the apparent existence of an active gay priestly subculture of unknown but clearly not insubstantial proportions?
Unfortunately the American Catholic leadership seems ready to face only the first of these questions. Pedophilia and statutory rape are not just sins; they are crimes. Catholic bishops are apparently prepared to exercise zero tolerance toward pedophilia -- past and present -- and a one-strike policy for past sexual use of a minor adolescent.
The priest who, say, once fell in love with a teen-ager years ago and has since demonstrated manly self-control, can continue to serve. A priest who has ever been sexually attracted to children will be defrocked, if American bishops have their way. Abuses that are less than full sexual use (inappropriate language, or touching, or a romantically charged relationship) fall into a gray zone requiring judgment.
On the second question Catholics wonder about -- why so many boys? -- the bishops throw a few broad fig leaves in the direction of improved screening of candidates for the priesthood. But screening for what? Holiness, says Father Richard John Neuhaus. Psychological maturity, suggest others.
The idea of altering clerical celibacy has apparently been dropped. Good thing. Pedophiles seek out positions that allow them access to children, including marriage. In a 1995 study in the journal Child Abuse and Neglect, almost half of all child sex offenders (overwhelmingly male) had married.
There appears to be no consensus among the bishops on screening out men with same-sex attractions, despite the increasingly powerful evidence that same-sex culture in seminaries is driving normal men away from vocations.
For Catholics, the last question, of sexual corruption, is the most serious. By corruption I do not mean merely sin, but the redirection of church institutions from teaching the faith to protecting individuals and their erotic attachments.
When an archbishop confesses diverting a half-million dollars to pay off an old flame, that is (whether he realized it or not) corruption. When a seminarian comes to the head of the seminary with anguished complaints that two clerics have abused him, and the priest responds by taking him to bed, that is corruption.
Reports from ex-seminarians in Michael S. Rose's new book, "Goodbye, Good Men," indicate that in many U.S. seminaries, same-sex relationships are not only common, they are practically mandatory. Tolerance of (if not participation in) such sinful relations is required of new candidates for the priesthood. Many priests with same-sex attractions are no longer holy men committed to celibacy but activists committed to changing church teachings on sexuality.
And in the long run, corruption is an even greater threat to the institutional interests of the Catholic Church than America's litigation jackpot. (The main reason sex abuse by Catholic clergy is front-page news is not that Catholic priests misbehave more often, but that the Catholic Church is a big, sitting target for lawsuits. Question: Why should Catholic children lose their schools, or parishoners their church buildings, because some priest in another parish a hundred miles away commits even the most horrible crime? Do synagogues, temples and congregations in America face the same risk?)
Corruption is dangerous not only to the salvation of souls but also to the institutional defense of the church. For in a democracy, protection of the church rests ultimately on a zealous, large, engaged Catholic laity deeply committed to the faith -- even when it clashes with contemporary mores. If the bishops cannot count on that kind of backup anymore, who do they have to blame?
She's definitely got it right. One of the problems, however, is that many of the laity, after decades of poor or downright misleading Catholic education, have little idea of what, if anything, they believe. Things like the applause received by Rembert indicate that we have a major problem: bad shepherds, and a seriously confused flock, to boot.
I literally wake up at night and wonder what is going to happen with this. I'm not sure the Church has ever been simultaneously under such a great threat from without (from Islam) and so seriously undermined from within.
Christendom has had a series of revolutions and in each one of them Christianity has died. Christianity has died many times and risen again; for it had a god who knew the way out of the grave.
Before leaving for the conference, my homosexual, financially corrupt Bishop Robert Lynch of St. Petersburg gave an interview with a local TV station. I'm paraphrasing, but essentially Lynch told the interviewer that the RCC must look at the issue of celibacy and that, perhaps, Priests should be allowed to marry. Lynch went on to say that celibacy was a fairly recent thing that had been put in place to handle inheritance issues.
The next few days are going to be difficult days for Catholics. When the media gets through with the Bishops, the Bishops won't know what hit them. But the most disappointing thing will be that the Bishops will come away from Dallas with nothing of consequence -- not even a reasonable plan regarding what to do next.
The Catholic laity has got to insist that Bishops like Robert Lynch be removed and replaced with men who are not part of the homo cult that pervades the Church.
I love Catholic theology, but the hierarchy is corrupt and incompetent beyond belief.
Hey, I'm in Boston -- I know what trouble is! And apart from the mess here, there seems to be way too much evidence that Boston exported far too many of the problems to other parts of the country. (Sometimes when I find it hard to pray for someone like bishops, I find it helps to phrase it, "Dear God, please help him to see how awful what he's doing is, so that he will repent!" Not always, but sometimes.)
I listened to Raymond Arroyo and Fr. Jim Gould, on EWTN radio last night. Fr. Gould made an interesting comment when he stated there are orthodox Bishops who are not going to sit back like wallflowers during this conference. He predicted Bishop Bruskewitz, as well as a few others, have the courage to confront the liberal Bishops and call them to task on what needs to be done.
I hope and pray that he is right and may the Holy Spirit guide the Bishop during this conference.
Holy Cow! I had no idea Bishop Lynch was one of “them’. When my wife and I are in St. Pete to visit my son we attend the Church of the Transfiguration. The priest there, Fr. Laubacker, always makes it a point to talk about money during his homily or at the end of the Mass when he is making announcements. When we were there a few weeks ago he mentioned an upcoming interview Bishop Lynch had scheduled, I believe with the local Catholic radio station, about the finances of his Diocese.
I thought it was rather strange the emphasis Fr. Laubacker always puts on donations and finances. I would think the Diocese in St. Pete would be in good shape. That’s a fairly affluent area.
I urge you to pray for the Bishops as there still are some good ones out there. It’s unfortunate you don’t have one in St. Pete, but maybe, just maybe, the times they are a changing.
Amen to that! If the Bishops won't listen to the Vatican and us poor dumb laity, maybe they'll listen to their own. We need more like Bishop Bruskewitz and hopefully this Conference will raise up some of them. I am looking for Bishop Baker of South Carolina to step up to the plate. He’s the only Bishop I know personally since he used to be my mother-in-laws Parish Priest. He is a devout and holy man. And I will add very, very Orthodox.
The Homosexual members of the clergy must be far far greater in number than any of us catholics really are aware of????
Actually, Bishop Lynch didn't show up for the radio interview. He sent his minions. It was a disaster. It was so bad that the Tampa Tribune wrote an article about it and included info about how misleading and wrong the informaion provided by Lynch's minions was. By the end of the radio show, callers were becoming extremely hostile.
As for finances, things are not going well. At my Parish which is one of the largest and most affluent in the Diocese, this year's BAPA has seen pledges of only 15% of the goal.
Unfortunately I missed Cardinal Bevilacqua interview because I lost my radio signal. (AM signals are terrible at night.) I think the good Cardinal is either totally out of touch with reality or he’s not tipping his hand. As I stated earlier, I believe the only way this problem is going to get flushed out is for the few remaining good Bishops to make a stand for the return to Orthodoxy. If they do this, and I believe it will happen, the Holy Spirit will guide them. I don’t believe this conference is the cure all for the current problems but more to set the tone for the future and direction of the American Church.
The Homosexual members of the clergy must be far far greater in number than any of us Catholics really are aware of????
I think its far greater with the Bishops than any of us imagined. And the problems with our Seminaries is mind boggling. If they can reach a consensus on addressing this issue that will go a long way towards cleaning up the mess they’ve created.
This is terrible. Another Bishop who’s not accountable to his flock. I’ll bet he’s going to try and keep a low profile at the conference. May the good Bishops flush this wolf out!
As for finances, things are not going well. At my Parish which is one of the largest and most affluent in the Diocese, this year's BAPA has seen pledges of only 15% of the goal.
I got that impression from Fr. Laubacker. He made the comment that if the Parish didn’t ante up for the Bishops Appeal, the Diocese would take the money from the Parish coffers. This is truly a disgrace.
I saw him Bevilacqua in rerun today. I've seldom seen anyone look so shifty-eyed and uncomfortable. I thought Bevilacqua was one of the good ones. This is very bad.
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