Righteous Indignation: My Response to the Pope's Scandal

We started Catholic Labs to escape writing about wedge issues, church politics, or any other nonsense that has little relevance to the daily lives of Catholics. Neither one of us, however, can ignore the elephant in the room any longer.

I am sick to my stomach. I've been a Catholic since birth, and I made a commitment before I was confirmed that I would learn about my faith and accept its tenants so that I would not be making promises that I did not understand. I attended The Catholic University of America, I've studied my religion, I've participated in my Parish Pastoral Council, and I've taught religious education. I've defended my faith from slander, attempted to educate the ignorant. Even when I've struggled in my own faith, or when I have fallen from grace, I have NEVER attacked the Church. This Church has failed us all. If you are not angry, you might want to look into this more deeply. If you are angry, don't you dare let anyone convince you that you have no right to be.

This does not mean that I believe everything I've read. It does not mean I am making drastic statements, like calling for resignations of the Holy See. It doesn't even mean that all of the charges and allegations against the Bishops, and Benedict XVI, are accurate or fair.

Here is what all of this means. Even when the Bishops have aggressively pursued allegations of wrong doing by their priests, which is a rarity, they have done so behind closed doors. Until recently, they have never apologized for their cover up. No Pope, before Benedict, has ever met with the victims of sexual abuse. Pope Benedict has been praised as the most aggressive member of the church to investigate sexual abuse, as he was head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith which was given this responsibility under John Paul II. Previous to this, however, Cardinal Ratzinger was written a memo describing the transfer of a priest, accused of sexual abuse, into his diocese. The letter was ignored. The priest abused again. From Ireland, to Ratzinger's diocese in Germany, to the now infamous Wisconsin case, the Pope's hands have been tarnished by the very scandal he has been trying to fix. The tragedy is that, despite evidence that no one in the Church's hierarchy worked harder to fix this mess, the CEO of a business who took similar actions as Cardinal Ratzinger has taken during a similar scandal would be facing jail time if proven guilty. Is the evidence there? Can this possibly be true?

I want to tell you that the evidence isn't there. I want to say that these are lies made up by the media that has an anti-Catholic agenda. I can't. The fact is, I've spent days trying to figure out what I can say.

Part of my message came to me on Palm Sunday, during the reading from Isaiah.

The Ways of the Lord

Old and New

Fourth Sunday of Lent - March 14, 2010

Reading I: Jos 5:9a, 10-12
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 34: 2-3, 4-5, 6-7
Reading II: 2 Cor 5:17-21
Gospel: Lk 15:1-3, 11-32

Fifth Sunday of Lent - March 21, 2010

Reading I: Is 43:16-21
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 126:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6
Reading II: Phil 3:8-14
Gospel: Jn 8:1-11


I would be at serious risk of biting off way more than I could chew if I were to attempt to cover the readings from both this past Sunday and today.  In the interests of keeping things manageable here, I will omit (with some regret) any direct reference to the Gospel readings.  Both of them expound very beautifully upon the reality of forgiveness, and I would encourage everyone to give each reading its due.  I happen to know of a few excellent resources for reflection on these Gospels which I promise to reference here in an update in the near future.

This post will concentrate on the first readings, because I think they lay out a very important background to the message of the Gospel readings.  It may be easy to miss that fact.  Perhaps I should speak for myself: when I read the first reading from this past Sunday, I had no idea what it had to do with the subsequent readings.  Okay, so the Israelites celebrated the Passover.  Yes, I understand that the Passover is central to Jewish life.  But why are we reading about this particular Passover--what makes this one so important?

Unsettling

Third Sunday of Lent
March 7, 2010

Reading I: Ex 3:1-8a, 13-15
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 103: 1-2, 3-4, 6-7, 8, 11
Reading II: 1 Cor 10:1-6, 10-12
Gospel: Lk 13:1-9


"Therefore, whoever thinks he is standing secure
should take care not to fall." (from the second reading)

"Unsettling" seems to capture the overall mood of the readings for this past Sunday. St. Paul reminds us of the great favor that God showed to Israel, of which we hear in the first reading. God announces to Moses his intention to liberate the Israelites and to make them his own people, granting them "a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey." "Yet," Paul continues "God was not pleased with most of them." Yikes! That's a heck of a transition. How do we get from the Chosen People of God to "not pleased with most of them"?

Something similar happens in the Gospel reading from Luke.