Help, please. My faith is in quicksand

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Rangerdj

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Help please. I am 47 years old, cradle Catholic, born and raised in a diocese in Pennsylvania that has been rocked and devastated by the sex scandals. A grand jury report from a few years ago was devastating. And this week two priests from my hometown have been added to the list, one active and one deceased. I know both.

Now I live in another diocese that also has been rocked.

My faith in God isn’t much affected, but I am losing faith in the human organization known as the church. The bishops I grew up with were complicit in overlooking evil. I feel like my relationship with God would best be served on an individual basis.

How are some of you keeping faith in these trying times?
 
Rangerdj said:
How are some of you keeping faith in these trying times?
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There are evil people. People can abuse their positions. Just because one is a bishop does not mean one is automatically holy. Satan is still trying to bring the Church down from the inside. Nothing is new under the sun.

As usual, Satan will fail, the corruption will be rooted out. There may be evil trying to bring the Church down, but there is good that is very clearly showing itself in it that’s fighting against it. And that is worth more than any of Satan’s lies and filth.
 
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Do not despair and stay on the ark. Christ will rebuke the storm soon enough and things will get better.
 
I’m sorry that you are going through this.

I would say that spending some time in Adoration might be fruitful for you. The Catholic Church is the only place to find The Eucharist. Look to Jesus.
 
I would really recommend going to somewhere where the fruits of the Church blossom. As a newly converted Catholic I went to Rome last year to a traditional Mass at the Chair of Saint Peter. This affirmed my faith so much. Leave the scandal and go to a Church elsewhere, blessed with other fruits than your own Parish/ Diocese/ Archdiocese. The Traditional Latin Mass does this for me, but
MikkiD1 said:
spending some time in Adoration might be fruitful for you
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is not a terrible idea either.
Talk to clerics around you or in other areas, pray for them. Know that those priests and bishops who are just trying to hold their parishes together are in at least as much pain as you. Silence is what got us into this mess, talking is what will get us out in my opinion.
Finally pray for the sinners of our Church, that they may repent and be forgiven for the awful sins they’ve committed. If not for them, do it for God, for we know he is in pain for his misguided shepherds.
Bless you, I’m sending my prayers. ❤️🙏
 
My faith doesn’t depend on what some priest is doing or not doing. Faith is a gift from God, and it means faith in God, not in Fr. X or in any other human being. Humans sin, and they will always let you down some way. God never lets you down.

Although it’s not a faith issue for me, I do pray a lot for priests, both the guilty ones and the innocent ones who are suffering guilt by association or even in a few cases may have been falsely accused. It’s also important to remember that many child abusers were abused themselves as children and received inadequate help or support, so they grew up to do the same behaviors to others. Many perps were once the victims.
 
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Sadly there are bad people everywhere, even in the house of the Lord. But if you love your faith and the Lord, take heart, and pray for those who hurt others. We as Catholics are called to be more like Jesus, and he brought up the church to its full glory. So for us we must be good example, especially where there are bad ones. I’m sorry for the pain these individuals caused you, but in order to repair what they broke you must be a better example than them
 
Rangerdj said:
I feel like my relationship with God would best be served on an individual basis.

How are some of you keeping faith in these trying times?
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  1. There are many more good priests than bad.
  2. Things have been improving for decades. Most of the reports of abuse are from long ago. Safeguards have been put in place to prevent abuse.
  3. Jesus is present in the Sacraments. Don’t walk away.
I’ve been telling concerned Catholics like you that right now is a great time to be Catholic. The Church is getting better, and it needs your help.
 
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You’re right, @Rangerdj, it’s tough. But it’s even tougher for all those good and faithful priests, in Pennsylvania and around the world, who are now pointed at in the street as dangerous child molesters, with whom decent law-abiding families will avoid all contact. They’re the people I feel sorry for. This is the real long-term harm that is the direct outcome of the dishonest cover-up policy pursued by far too many bishops, from Bernard Law onward.
 
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Hello RangerDJ,

I was once where you were in a very bad way. It wasn’t only leaving the church that I was considering, I was considering taking a long walk off of a short pier. My marriage was on the rocks and the pressures of the job and four little ones was beating me down.

I was lucky in that I knew a wonderful Deacon and I was able to meet with him several times and he got me back on the path to salvation, both in my walk with Christ and my marriage.

So, from my personal experience, if you can find a Deacon in your Church or another local Catholic Church, you might want to give it a try. I’m not saying that a priest couldn’t give some good counseling, but with the effect that the scandals in the Church have had on you and your faith, I would recommend a Deacon.

Thomas
 
Thank you for all your thoughts. I’ve never been so confused in my life about anything.

The former bishop of my home diocese died last night. I have no doubt that he knowingly covered up for evil priests. I hope he repented. But I prayed more for those hurt.

Perhaps the most difficult part of this is I’ve two daughters. One, 18, refuses to attend a church because of the scandal, though I believe her faith sincere. My youngest has a deep faith, and I don’t want to jeopardize that relationship.
 
Rangerdj said:
Perhaps the most difficult part of this is I’ve two daughters. One, 18, refuses to attend a church because of the scandal, though I believe her faith sincere. My youngest has a deep faith, and I don’t want to jeopardize that relationship.
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My son, whose Catholic faith is faltering, also cites the church scandals as one of the reasons that he has moved to a Presbyterian church. I wish that I had an answer for you. For now, we both need to pray.
 
Speaking of which, I can think of no better faith-strengthener than to go and be in Christ’s presence. We err when we look left and right, seeing only sinners and hypocrites - the same thing others see when they look at us!

Rather, stay absolutely fixed on Christ. Adoring Him in His Sacramental presence is the best medicine on earth.
 
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