- Share This Post
- Pin It
- 1
- 20
-
Sparkle (0)
Many Roman Catholics are upset, hurt, angry, disappointed. And when they look to the Vatican for leadership, many feel that Pope Benedict has not fared well.
The sex scandals just don't stop. The New York Times announced that the Pope knew of abuse and concealed it. Others point to reforms he has made in screening applicants for the clergy, in seminaries and in formation of groups to deal with allegations.
Maureen Dowd said, also in the Times:" At the moment, the only thing between Catholics and God is a defensive church hierarchy that cannot fully acknowledge and heal the damage it has done around the globe. How can the faithful enjoy Easter redemption when a Good Friday service at the Vatican was more concerned with shielding the pope than repenting the church’s misdeeds?"
Let's understand something about the Catholic Church. It used to be the equivalent of a World Power. It has often seen itself as a self-contained entity, complete and entire in itself, much like a government. After all, the pope has diplomatic immunity (so far) as a head of state -- The Vatican. When priests have been disciplined for sexual abuse, it has been largely internal. Many church leaders seem to have been surprised, back when the abuse scandals started to surface, to hear that they should have reported these priests to the police. Why? They had the means to handle things internally! It was (and is) an odd mindset. It is not feeling one is "above" the law, but rather that one IS the law. After all the Catholic Church and its complex structures existed long before the USA.
Further, Catholics have felt comfortable staying within the church even if they disagreed with certain policies/principles of the church -- such as freedom of choice, birth control, the role of women. It is not unlike feeling as though one can stay on as an American even if one does not support the war, or some government policy. When you are Catholic, it isn't about being a member of something. It is about being a Catholic, like being an American. It isn't like other Christian choices. The culture is very different. It can be more like an identity.
Genie, a BlogHer Contributing Editor, writes of this in her blog. She describes taking people to a memorial garden outside her church in Oakland, built by survivors of sexual abuse by priests. She is troubled deeply by the latest scandal, and has held on as a Catholic for many years. Her uncle is a deeply honorable priest. But she is shaken again with the latest tide of accusations, and says:
" I've managed to reconcile, for years, my pro-choice beliefs, my support for marriage equality, my assertion that there is zero reason that women should not be priests, with my ability to still attend Mass and be fulfilled by its ritual power...
I am a woman who always harbors hope for good, for better, for change. But I noted, this year, that I didn't bother attending Ash Wednesday Mass. That I ignored Easter. That I ate meat on every Friday in Lent. I noted, this year, that I've stopped singing at the Cathedral, that I don't go to Mass anymore, and that even thinking about the current Pope spikes my blood pressure."
The scandals and the effect they have had on the laity cannot be underestimated. My sister-in-law went to Catholic school all through high school. She said "These were the guys we looked up to. They had God's ear in a special way -- they were the conduits from and to God. They were holy men, and we knew we could trust them absolutely. They were representatives directly from God to us. We recently found out that Monseigneur XXYY was a pedophile. He used to hug me as a kid. Do I feel betrayed? Hell, yes! That and sick to my stomach."
A lot of people are affected by these scandals. There is a great deal written about the direct victims and the perpetrators, as there should be -- but the news effects every Catholic. It changes the way they look at their priests. They wonder now. Some are wondering if they should stay in the Church. Some are wondering what this means about faith in general. We are just now getting a glimpse of how many people have been rocked by
