End of my rope--if the Church is no better than secular institutions then why bother?

[Gab123]

The scandals of the last few months have finally taken their toll and I’m at a breaking point.

In your case the scandals are then turning out to be a great unmasking of the reality of your faith.

First realize that there was, is, and always will be liars, hypocrites murderers, adulterers, thieves, perverts, traitors and all sorts of scoundrels within both the clergy and the laity. We see this even among the 12 Apostles whom Christ personally chose.
These are the wolves and the weeds that Scripture said would always be inside the Church.

Next, realize that everyone living on this planet today did not even exist 150 years ago; men die, while the Holy Spirit is Eternal and Jesus Christ is the Head of His Church. Thus the Holy Spirit will always guide the Church throughout the ages until the end of time after the death of mere mortal scoundrels. All the people in the Church today will be dead, gone, and judged sooner rather than later; we’re all just passing through.

So don’t have a nervous breakdown, instead have faith. Among the wicked there are always the holy, the saintly and those struggling to do good. Furthermore, it is the devil who uses scandals to cause division, gossip, slander, the loss of faith and nervous breakdowns. Furthermore, this is the paradoxical way of God sanctifying the Church and souls individually. You speak as if God is not in charge of His Church, when in reality God permits these things as Jesus explained:

“The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26 When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’ “‘An enemy did this,’ he replied. “The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’ “‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’”

“…Then he left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.” He answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the people of the evil one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. “As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear.”

 

[Gab123]

Please help me.

And realize that Jesus is patient, all have been weeds at one time or another. So look upon those who are in the clutches of the devil as people whom you should pray for. Then you will begin to grow spiritually; if not our faith is reduced to pure religiosity and hypocrisy…

As for protestantism, realize that their was scandals that led to the Protestant rebellion and a division and splintering of the Church, And go back to the times of St. Francis and things were bad then too. Go back to head the Acts of the Apostles and you will realize how Paul himself was exasperated with some of the things that were going on in the church among the believers.

As for the sexual abuses, most of the cases happened between the 1970s and the 1990s. As for cover ups, this is all about covering up homosexual activity and infestations in the seminaries which God is not shedding the light on the darkness and bleaching with the truth. As for sexual abuse in protestant groups, do realize that they have their own problems, simply look up stopbaptistpredators.org

But the bis scandal is how the media ignores the huge monstrous sexual abuse problem in the public school system, as well as the sex abuse cases among Rabbis and other religious faiths. The devil only really attacks the Church.

 

[Knight]

The fact that this kind of scandal occurs in so many other institutes should prove that this is a human issue, not a Catholic issue. The main reason why I stay Catholic is because it’s the Church that Jesus Christ Himself founded. He didn’t say, go and make over 39,000 variations of my Word. Catholic means universal and that’s why we say ONE, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic Church.

It’s understandable that these kinds of atrocities make you upset and angry (as well as any other word you can think of here) but we’re also told in Romans that we should not let the sun set on our anger. Of course we’re mad and angry about this! We SHOULD be! If someone isn’t upset or angered by these despicable acts then I don’t think anything would anger that person.

I think the priest’s are exhorting to take comfort in the Eucharist because that IS CHRIST HIMSELF and that prayer is the direct line to God. I would say all good lay folks would exhort this. The Church is perfect, because Christ founded her. The people in the Church…they’re another story. No man is perfect other than Christ Himself and His Mother.

Don’t despair because you’re not feeling anything when you pray or take the Eucharist. There are saints that didn’t feel anything. The important thing is that you’re doing it. That you’re praying. That you’re believing. That you’re NOT abandoning the Church when she needs you the most.

Christ said that even the powers of hell would not prevail against His Church. Trust in Christ.

I hope this helps.

God Bless.

 

[jericho777]

And the Pope side steps the issue. Also the Brighton Seminary scandal near Boston is another that just happened. How can the faithful have faith in their church? And don’t blame people for choosing their kid’s safety over the church.

 

[Vonsalza]

Religion isn’t really in the business of “is”. It’s in the business of “ought”.

The men that compose these institutions are as fallible as you are. Always have been. What we look to is the super-man. The one that is what you can never be but strive to be anyway.

That is why you “bother”.

 

[MarkInOregon]

Are you leaving behind education? Are you leaving behind sports? Are you leaving behind entertainment? Are you leaving behind family life? Are you leaving behind society in general? By participating in society and it’s institutions do you feel like you’re enabling this culture, saying it’s ok, you’ll be a good little member of society no matter what happens? You say nobody talks about it at church, but do they talk about it anywhere you go–has your local school board provided you a list of teachers accused, of teachers they let quietly leave the district (over the past 60-70 years)? Is your local boy scout troop talking about it? Do you hear a lot of families out and about discussing it? None of this is to excuse those guilty of abuse and of covering it up in the Church–after all one would hope those who are supposed to be people of God and shepherds of the faithful would do better than the general population. It’s just to ask why we don’t also leave society over this if we’re willing to leave the Church?

All we can do is be the best Catholics that we can be and the best members of society that we can be–leaving the Church or society in general is not going to change anything, it’s not going to help anything. Are you leaving the Church for something better or are you leaving it for something where it’s easier to keep your head in the sand pretending everything is ok? Do you no longer believe (or did you ever believe) that the Church holds the fullness of truth and that Christ is truly present in the Eucharist? I don’t know how one leaves that truth and Christ in the Eucharist even as bad as the scandals are and have been. Let’s be honest–there have been terribly scandalous things occurring and being covered up in both the Church, secular institutions & governments, and families–for as long as they have existed–heck sometimes what’s now considered scandalous was out in the open as normal and what’s now out in the open as normal was considered scandalous and hidden. And after 2002 I’m shocked by nothing and having to get a background check and watch worthless videos in order to help out at my childs school and to chaperone field trips is now my new normal.

Was there really anything “new” in the latest revelations that surprises us? Will we all experience this angst again as the next diocese takes inventory of the occurrences of the past 60+ years and a new report is issued (and there will be another report)? I for one won’t be–I expect a similar report could be written for probably every diocese in the states, and I’m past anger about it–I’m just extremely sad. We should all be prepared to have the scab ripped off of this wound for years to come, and prepare ourselves for it. Prayer and fasting is probably a good course of action, a better one than leaving the Church. For those of you leaving the Church over this issue–what are you leaving it for? Have you found something better? Something more true?

The peace of Christ,
Mark

 

[MichelleGeorge]

I said in my last post that I was leaving for reasons that have nothing to do with the scandals. Go back and read. You don’t pay attention… Here’s what is. I have gone back to the Episcopal Church because I wanted to go HOME. It’s my spiritual home. It’s my faith. It’s where God is for me. The longer I stayed a Catholic the more I came to detest church, the more I moved away from God. I do not expect many Catholics to understand, especially those that are the mainstay of CAF. That’s fine. But here’s the gist of it: to have stayed Catholic would have been spiritual suicide. I needed to go back home to regain my faith in God. … For the record, I have found an Episcopal church in my diocese to call home. I already know many of the people there from when I was an active member of the diocese back in the day.

 

[MarkInOregon]

I did read and you said more than that. You clearly said the scandals didn’t help and you clearly outlined a lot of items that are scandal related: nobody talks about it…everyone acts as if nothing is different…I feel as if I’m enabling this culture…I’ll be a nice little Catholic…etc. These are all scandal related and have nothing to do with your other reasons which you didn’t elaborate on—I addressed the points you made. None of those things are unique to the Catholic Church — if that’s not why you left the Church then don’t list them while ignoring the actual reasons you imply you left for in this current post. I addressed what you said and what you said suggests you should disavow not only the Catholic Church, but all churches and society in general—as what you are complaining about is an issue that plagues all religions and society and it’s instutions.

The peace of Christ,
Mark

 

[Mboo]

The problem is that the hierarchy of the Church everywhere, and for decades, protected sex criminals, there was almost no exception.

 

[Imdaman]

The scandals of the last few months have finally taken their toll and I’m at a breaking point. I’ve heard again and again that priests commit child sexual abuse at a rate comparable or slightly lower than other organizations. That lots of organizations have had massive coverups. This is true. But if the Body of Christ is no better than the secular world, then how do we know that it is the Body of Christ? At least when I was a Protestant, I could claim that these monsters were not really Christians. I’ve never really had an emotional connection to my faith–I believe in Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular like I believe in the law of gravity so even my priest’s exhortation’s to take comfort in the Eucharist and my own prayers for faith seem to do nothing and I had no idea what to do now. Please help me.

So I take it you have never committed a mortal sin?

 

[Gorgias]

The problem is that the hierarchy of the Church everywhere, and for decades, protected sex criminals, there was almost no exception.

Patently false.

I mean, yes, that’s the narrative that society wants to sell you (congratulations! you’ve bought it hook, line, and sinker!), but that kind of sweeping generalization is far from the truth.

Are there abusive clergy? Absolutely.
Are there bishops who listened to the ‘experts’ of the day, who recommended courses of action that would never be recommended by today’s ‘experts of the day’? Absolutely.
Are there also some bishops who merely shuffled problem priests from one parish to another? Absolutely.

However, that’s a far cry from the accusation – which you’ve made here – of a conspiracy in the hierarchy to “protect sex criminals”.

And, for the past 16 years at least, the Church in America has had policies and procedures in place to deal with new accusations as they surface and to attempt to prevent new abuses from occurring.

But hey… that’s a narrative that takes time to research and confirm. It’s far easier to just go with “the Church protects sex criminals.” So… which approach will you choose?

 

[MonteRCMS]

And the Pope side steps the issue. Also the Brighton Seminary scandal near Boston is another that just happened. How can the faithful have faith in their church?

The Catholic Church was founded by Jesus, Himself, Personally.

Jesus was betrayed by one of His 12 Apostles and by many followers., but the Church is still here.

 

[Rahn]

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)

The picture on the left was a cover of Time magazine in 1966. The right is a cover in 1971.

God can do mighty things, but on His schedule.

Let’s hope we’re next on His to-do list.

 

[Theo2]

Why did our priests commit those sins and thus the scandal, and why did the Church cover them up?

Reuben,

No one said it would be easy. The cross just got heavier. I really can’t get my mind around priest abusing children and teens. I guess despite all the warnings to the contrary I put the priest on a pedestal. But I know so many good priest and I know they sin but what these guys did, I can’t figure out how they fell so low. How deep the darkness can be.

The cover-up I can understand. They felt they were doing the right thing. They were wrong but that is part of being human.

I have doubled down on prayer. I fear it will get a lot worse before it is over. I fear the church will break apart. In the end Christ will prevail and I am hanging on!

 

[Theo2]

The problem is that the hierarchy of the Church everywhere, and for decades, protected sex criminals, there was almost no exception.

That may be true. They did it though to protect us from the truth because they believed we couldn’t handle it. The jury is still out on that one. They also believe in forgiveness and mercy. Maybe to a fault. None of us, none are without sin. Maybe if you sat in the confessional for hours and heard all the garbage people do, you might become too complacent also. Something to pray about!