(For You) What has been Impact of Ecclesial Abuse on Church Solidarity?

[Wm777]

I’ve been wondering… Today’s church seems to be divided in so many ways… and, then, with the abuse scandals we have all suffered - has anyone actually measured the impact of those scandals in terms of the church’s solidarity?

It seems the media smear campaigns are one set of things - which could cover almost any topic people can think of to harass us… But then we get the scandals, and they only lend justification to the bad and divisive things non-catholics and detractors think of the church…

I ran into someone today who had no concern for catholics at all, and the things the person was thinking were completely wrong… based upon what was said - for all practical purposes - we may as well all be bad because of the misdeeds of a few… although that opinion is just as bad because it persecutes innocent Catholics… any innocent Catholic may as well make a victim impact statement in return… I mean, I didnt, but it did make me stop to wonder…

All in all - I just wondered if anyone has broken it all down and taken time to put it in perspective? What has the impact of the smears and scandals been on our church’s solidarity for individuals as well as for all of us?

Is this making sense? I know these various things have hurt us… but I’m asking for both opinions and personal experience or stats and fact… as a way to try to assess the damage…

or do we just lack a sense of solidarity anymore for some other reason I may have missed?

 

[0Scarlett_nidiyilii]

I don’t personally know anybody who left the Church because of the abuse scandal.
I have an acquaintance or two who had family members leave, and I believe them because they’re reliable.
I’ve seen lots and lots of people who left for other reasons be all “see? I was right all along!”

I happen to be a “mandated reporter”, which means if I come across signs of abuse I have to report it to the authorities, so I’ve been trained a bunch of times on symptoms of abuse, and it’s socmething I think about and have a level of awareness.
Because sex abuse is way too common across the board in our society.

As for me, for various reasons (not just the sex abuse crisis), I’ve been striving to remove the plank from my own eye.

That’s what it has meant for me.

 

[Wm777]

As for me, for various reasons (not just the sex abuse crisis), I’ve been striving to remove the plank from my own eye.

This may sound like a strange twist, but do you think all the controversy is thus somehow helpful?

 

[Tis_Bearself]

I don’t personally know anybody who left the Church because of the abuse scandal.

Yeah, me neither. As I have said many times on this forum, people generally seem to leave the Church for the following reasons:

1. Sin, especially premarital or extramarital sex/ porn/ masturbation/ artificial birth control etc, looked more attractive and the Church just seemed really old-fashioned on these matters.
2. Laziness - it’s “boring” to go to Mass or pray a Rosary, “I get nothing out of it” etc
3. Marriage - they marry a non-Catholic spouse and join spouse’s church, or they can’t get married in the Catholic Church due to a divorce or gay marriage situation so they join some other church that will marry them.

There are probably a handful of people who left over the abuse situation, especially victims and friends/ relatives of victims, but most of the people who point to the abuse situation or any other scandal already were out the door for reasons 1, 2 or 3 and are just pointing fingers at anything bad about the Church to justify their leaving (“see? The Church is just rotten to the core, glad I left”) , whether it’s an abuse scandal or the fact that an individual Catholic or a group of Catholics aren’t acting kind.

The big underlying reason people leave the Church is they either don’t believe in/accept the teachings or they think the Church, and probably any particular church, isn’t necessary for salvation and you can just have a personal spirituality to the extent you need one, without having to go through the hassle of being part of a church.

 

[jack63]

This is kind of a strange question.

Abuse in the church has been going on for a long long time. It happened long before Vatican II. I had a family member describe to me abuse they received by clergy (physical not sexual). They left, and then they came back to the Church. I converted to Catholicism with this knowledge that abuse happens and has been happening for decades (if not centuries) and is not usually reported.

The recent abuse allegations were no surprise to me. I was almost shocked they were a surprise to others. Really?! You didn’t know? People’s heads really do get buried in the sand. I converted because of the truth of Catholicism, but my guard is up.

As for your question, the abuse scandal hasn’t really effected my personal take on the solidarity of the church for the reasons I described.

or do we just lack a sense of solidarity anymore for some other reason I may have missed?

There are many who would claim that there have always been divisions in the church over the last few decades. Martin Malachi’s book “The Jesuits” (copyright 1987) begins with the ominous sentence…

A state of war exists between the papacy and the Religious Order of the Jesuits

 

[Tis_Bearself]

I reckon that statement has flown straight out the window now that Francis is in.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

The recent abuse allegations were no surprise to me. I was almost shocked they were a surprise to others. Really?! You didn’t know? People’s heads really do get buried in the sand.

I’ve been hearing about the abuse scandal in the secular media, like on CBS News, since the late 80s. It’s popped up in the news periodically since then. I, like you, don’t see anything happening now as a big reveal. I think many people do not like to read or learn about topics they find unsavory, so it probably contributes to peoples’ ignorance,

 

[commenter]

“Ecclesiastic abuse” has different meanings.
Priests and bishops who do bad things don’t cause people to leave the Catholic Faith. (The fact that many doctors and nurses until recently used to smoke and drink heavily didn’t disprove the health norms for YOU taking care of yourself.)

We are saddened by “Catholics behaving badly”, but the Church always taught we are all sinners, including the pope.

The “abuse” that really did damage to the Faith was faulty religious education programs that implied false doctrine, and omitted true doctrine. The catechetical scandal did far more lasting harm, to two generations, than the sex abuse scandal.

Most young people have no idea what was stolen from them. We are paying for this scandal in many ways.

 

[0Scarlett_nidiyilii]

This may sound like a strange twist, but do you think all the controversy is thus somehow helpful?

Nope, not a strange twist.
Sin is never good.
But the controversy has forced me to look more closely at my own religious faith and the reasons why I practice in ways I might otherwise wouldn’t have.