Crisis
Posted by: tony on 08/13/2007 08:07 PM
Updated by: tony on 08/13/2007 08:12 PM
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Expires: 09/13/2007 12:00 AM
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Todd at Catholic Sensibility comments on a piece in First Things entitled Danger and Opportunity: A Plea to Catholics.
I was told that the Chinese symbol for "crisis" superimposes the symbols for "danger" and "opportunity". If I'm wrong, someone please correct me, but there is always opportunity in crisis. One just has to recognize it and sieze it.
Todd hits a ground rule double with this statement:
Like many bishops, the FT essayist gets it wrong nearly off the bat:
The danger is that large numbers of Catholics will, as a result of clergy sex scandals and the large, highly publicized cash awards and settlements following in their train, lose confidence in the reliability of the Church as a teacher of truth, particularly in the moral domain.
The danger is not from pathologically misbehaving clergy. We've always had them. They were whispered about, joked about long before Cardinal Law’s mismanagement brought the crisis to a modern showdown in 2002. Catholics have long acknowledged their abuse at the hands of priests and religious. The image of tough-disciplined, knuckle-rapping sisters is almost a cliche. Alcoholic priests, mistreated orphans, 16th century popes: the Church is chock full of infamous characters and abused victims. What makes 2002 so different from the Borgia popes, their mistresses, and other goings-on?
What made 2002 so "dangerous" is that the link was made between sex abusers and your garden variety of Catholic bishop. So many bishops were under a cloud of suspicion. And most of them remain in the gray. And the danger continues as we move into scrutinizing the late JPII bishops (here and here) who seem just as clueless as to how to behave.
Another thing that made 2002 so "dangerous" was the fact that the media was all over the story. Not to minimize the abuse, or the damage caused to victims, but the church has always been led by sinners. After all, even the Pope has a confessor. The difference has been in the perception. This perception is that the deficiency has been in the one, holy catholic and apostolic Church rather than isolated segments of it.
An interesting point about the whole thing has been that the majority of the abuse and ironically the outrage concerning the abuse, has been more prevalent in diocese who have been infected by secular sexual morality. In the same breath that they promote actively homosexual priests, they decry the overwhelming homosexual abuse of young teens. While they tout free love, shacking up, and hooking up as exploring one's sexuality, they are horrified when priests do it.
Later in the piece, Todd states:
The opportunity of present-day Catholicism is sort of an exciting one. I think it to be so. By a combination of cultural factors, to which some Christians have contributed, we no longer live in a society that will take its leadership for granted. Priests, parents, presidents, public officials, police officers: nobody gets a free pass. It’s like everybody has become a Missourian: show me, they cry. Show me your moral authority. Is it an in-your-face challenge? Or is it a plea for somebody to show some authentic leadership?
I wonder how much it is the latter. Why am I optimistic? Look at the evidence: young people latch on to religious movements like LifeTeen or the Youth Day phenomenon. In my church circles, serving the needy has never been more popular. While some people may have whispers about JPII, hardly anybody has a bad word for Mother Teresa. I suspect it is because her single-minded discipleship in care of the poor is part of the authentic leadership people–even non-Catholics and non-Christians–so desperately crave.
Why am I optimistic? I see a huge increase in faith filled young men in the seminaries. I see younger priests who never have celebrated an extraordinary expression of the Latin rite lining up to purchase the appropriate books. so they can serve their flocks. I see young people clamoring for the extraordinary expression to be made available near them.
I see more Eucharistic adoration, rosary and divine mercy devotionals than ever before. I also see, in my parish, young families with more than five children (and possibly more on the way). I believe a corner has been turned, and it does my heart good.
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