Guys I'm upset: My cousin pastor wrote a HARSH piece on the Catholic Church (sex abuse)

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If you have had conversations with her about what the Church actually teaches and she still publishes this, then it would be a slap in the face. They should know better.
 
She knows how much I care about my Catholic Faith. I look up to her. I’m NOT saying she doesn’t have the right to be critical, etc. And I’m not saying I should be on her radar. She is a pastor of her own church, after all, and she is a published writer.

BUT, indeed it did feel like a personal slap in the face.

It’s not just a critique of the coverup or bad bishops and priests. It’s a critique of the fundamental structures of Catholicism, as if they’re evil.
 
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I think it sounds like you are doing well also.

I agree patriarchy, male leadership, has nothing to do with the abuses happening, nor does celibacy, otherwise it would be difficult to explain how married men commit such crimes.

I realize we are trying not to point out that these things happen elsewhere and we definitely need to be cleaning up our own mess but that being said, sex abuse does happen elsewhere. It is a fact.

I agree with others who say it is going to get worse before it gets better but, IMHO, I do not believe the Catholic church is going to go it totally alone. There are sex abuse cases happening in protestant churches. We had a terrible incident about a year or so ago in a local church in our small town. I think there is going to be a lot more coming out from other churches also.

There seems to be a sense of pride coming from other places and well, there is an old saying, “people who live in glass houses should not throw stones”.

I guess I am just saying stay humble but keep telling the truth.
 
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If someone I knew posted this knowing me, I would start thinking that they don’t have too high of an opinion of my intelligence if they honestly believe that I, with all my reading about the Church and experience being Catholic and being in Catholic circles, would continue to be part of a group that is hell-bent on controlling women’s bodies. They probably think I’m stupid because I cannot be ignorant.
 
catholic1seeks said:
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/irreverin/2018/08/predator-priests-the-churchs-great-sin-of-patriarchy/

AND I’m so angry and have so many emotions 😦

I usually get along with her, and I usually agree with much of what she has to say. But now I feel sick to my stomach. This on top of all the scandals lately has really got me down…

How do I proceed so I don’t overreact???
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I hate to say this, but I fail to understand what the sex abuse scandal has to do with women, since the majority of the abused were boys and young men.

The issue is primarily homosexual in nature.

Also, if she trying to say women don’t commit sexual abuse, well what about all of those female teachers in the news who get caught sleeping with high school boys?
 
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I don’t think it has much to do with men in authority, but with authority itself (and the general fact that men are more likely to engage in these crimes than women makes it more likely to manifest with men in authority). But around where I live, there seems to be many more news stories of female public school teachers preying on students than males. In those cases, you have a similar authority issue (the teacher being an authority figure), but there are more women than men.

Not to mention all the abuse by nuns we’ve read about in Ireland and elsewhere.

Blaming this on patriarchy is not really accurate–the true cause is more fundamental and sinister.

Just to add, authority is ultimately a good thing, but we all need have a good understanding of its nature to recognize its abuse.
 
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Actually… this is a really good point,

Like why hasn’t she gripped me by the shoulders and said: “GET OUT OF THAT CHURCH!”
 
Well, I think her article was about patriarchy in general, and how the Church’s fundamental structure leads to such things like controlling women, abuse, etc. She didn’t connect the sexual abuse to women per se.
 
catholic1seeks said:
Well, I think her article was about patriarchy in general, and how the Church’s fundamental structure leads to such things like controlling women, abuse, etc. She didn’t connect the sexual abuse to women per se.
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I would rebuke her by saying “patriarchy isn’t the issue, clericalism is.”

If we had female priests with a culture of clericalism, then the issues would still be there.

The Church of England has female priests and married priests, but that didn’t prevent them from having a sex abuse scandal of their own.

Evangelicals also have the same issue. When people place their religious leaders on pedestals, it’s easy for them to let the attention get to their heads. That’s why priests need to pray constantly and the closer they stay to the sacraments and to the beauty of the liturgy, the better.
 
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As I am discussing this issue with some of my more understanding non-Catholic friends, I’ve become aware I need to be careful with using/defending the “patriarchy” in the Church, because that means more than just the male-only leadership. What I mean to defend is the male-only bishops and priests, and the fundamental structure of the Catholic Church.

But “patriarchy,” especially these days, assumes a lot more: a whole cultural attitude whereby men have the dominant say over women; that they have higher inherent status, etc. Rev Erin would probably accuse the Catholic Church of this, but I don’t want to defend this.
 
The way to defend the male only clergy is this:
  1. The Catholic Church and the Orthodox Churches both teach dogma can never change, that no human has the authority to change a dogma
  2. The Catholic Church and the Orthodox Churches both teach that the male only priesthood is a dogmatic teaching, therefore it cannot change.
  3. Even if every single bishop in the Catholic Church and in the Orthodox Churches agreed that they both should allow female priests, they do not have the authority to make that change. The only way women can become priests is if Jesus Christ instructs them to do so during the Second Coming.
So it’s a wasted debate, because no human can ever change it.

NOTE: I always recommend to always drag the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Coptic Orthodox, Assyrian Church of the East, and all of the other ancient Churches into this because they all teach the same thing as the Catholic Church in regards to this.

God bless
 
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My guess is that her influence is over her local congregation. I know I have never heard of her nor read her blog.

The best thing to do is to offer it up.
 
I think I may go ahead and write a blog post on “10 Holy Modern Priests” or something. I just feel exhausted 😂
 
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I would advise not responding at all if you are currently upset or angry. Just wait. Patiently. When you are past the upset & anger, then reply if you feel the discussion will be civil.
 
That is satisfying for people like me. I love bringing in the other apostolic churches. Even today, I did so for defense of the Assumption of Mary.

Anyways, I’m not sure if Rev. Erin would care, though. We have to remember that many Christians outside the Catholic and Orthodox world don’t think of “Church” in the same institutional sense. There is no monopoly on doctrinal truth. To them, even the early church erred on a lot of things – especially social/sexual issues.
 
Don’t put too much stock in the opinion of a female pastor if you are a catholic. They don’t speak for the Church you’re part of . In terms of authority, it’s equivalent to getting upset by what a lay person says. Stay friendly with her , pray for one another xx
 
Well, of course she is not influencing my faith or causing doubt.

But I care about her. I don’t want her to think I’m some anti-woman hater. And I don’t want her to lead others astray. I do want to defend my church.
 
catholic1seeks said:
I do want to defend my church
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This is best done without much anger and emotion. And honestly, when I read her opinion on women and nfp…she would need to read and understand a lot more before you even start to discuss this. Sadly, she will maybe never read it, but she would be surprised by the dignity of women described in theology of the body.
 
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