Poll: Most Catholics Say Faith Is Unshaken Despite Abuse Scandal

[Dale_M]

As far as the bottom line, I truly believe that’s a very secular way of thinking. Unfortunately, even clergy and religious often fall into this way of thinking. I was in a conversation with a priest the other day. He’s a secular priest, a very good man. He asked me how my brothers lived. I told him that God has provided for us for 800 years. He said, “Yes I know, but how do you survive?” I started to laugh. All I could say to him was the truth, “St. Francis always told us to work, to use our skills. When that does not bring in enough money, we don’t worry. God has lots of money. Franciscans have lived on this faith for 800 years. Today we are 1.7 million Franciscan men and women and none of us are starving. We have no idea where the money comes from.” God just sends it when we need it to the house and project that needs it.

I think your remarks speak very much to the central issue. Its about faith in Christ and the Church he founded. If someone doesn’t have that faith, if they think that Church teachings are simply human ideas which can be discarded when they seem “out of date,” then they are very much in a secular mindset.

Rather than my worry about the 10% of persons whose faith was shaken by the sex abuse scandals, perhaps it would be better to praise the 90% whose faith is unshaken.

 

[JReducation]

I think your remarks speak very much to the central issue. Its about faith in Christ and the Church he founded. If someone doesn’t have that faith, if they think that Church teachings are simply human ideas which can be discarded when they seem “out of date,” then they are very much in a secular mindset.

Rather than my worry about the 10% of persons whose faith was shaken by the sex abuse scandals, perhaps it would be better to praise the 90% whose faith is unshaken.

That’s the point right here, faith in Jesus Christ. There are too many people who like the numbers game and they go off half-cocked with that. This can be very dangerous. We have to avoid this. The numbers game can lead us to doubt God.

We have to account for ourselves, not for numbers. Each of us has to account for our faith and our efforts to teach the faith and to protect the faith in the manner that the Church wants us to do so. This last part of my statement is also very important. We do not protect the faith in the manner that we believe it must be done. The Church tells us how to do it. That’s the only means that is justifiable before God. Our means for protecting the faith may be very sound, but it can also be very bad. It is best to go with the Church’s means for doing this.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

 

[zab]

I agree. We had no scandal in the Diocese of Little Rock, and so, what happened elsewhere didn’t affect our belief or our trust in our parishes and didn’t affect our pocketbooks, either.

Learning of the clergy abuse scandal was tremendously sad and humiliating even though it did not happen in our parish. But even if it were to occur in our parish, it would not shake my faith in the true Church founded by Jesus. The failing of individual members has nothing to do with the truth of the Catholic Faith.

 

[JReducation]

I believe that in part this questions stems from a lack of knowledge of Church history. The truth is that such abuses are neither new nor were they in larger numbers during the 1950s to 1990s. These abuses date back before the Middle Ages. The situation was different, because back then there was no understanding that this was abusive. It was a common practice by many people of many walks of life. But the writings and ancient monks and friars of the time refer to such situations. They even had forced marriages between old men who were in their golden years and little girls who were just past puberty. There were people who kept house boys as companions. Thank God that laws have changed and that the consciousness of society has matured.

Sexual abuse was not the only kind of abuse against children and teens. Kids were physically abused by everyone. It was as if they had no human rights at all. Even St. Benedict wrote in his rule how to physicially punish the boys under the care of the monks and the young novices. Today, we would call this abuse. In those days, they did not understand it. They truly believed that such tough corporal punishments were good for the soul.

We have to be very careful not to raise the alarm that something new has invaded the Church. It’s not new. What has happened is that the world has matured and some people did not grow up with the rest of us. They got stuck in some other zone, as I refer to it. I can’t think of what else to call it. When we convince ourselves that this has never happened before, then we look for a scapegoat. What we have to see is that this is the product of original sin and that it has to be erradicated, like any other product of original sin.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

 

[Nordar]

The bold is mine.

I believe that what we have to remember here is that the Church is not Walmart. Whether everyone stays or everyone but the pope leaves does not harm to the Church. The Church does not exist for temporal succes.

Let’s try to take this in tiny steps. What is the Church? She is the bride of Jesus Christ. She is the body of Christ. She does not cease to be his bride or his body regardless of the numbers, nor does Christ love her or prefer her any less despite the number of Catholics.

Let’s look at what the Church teaches. The sex abuse scandals have not changed a single moral teaching. The sacraments are still in place and they cannot all be found outside of the Catholic Church. There is no way that someone who truly believes in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist is going to leave the Catholic Church, because of a sinful priest. To do so is to leave behind his only opportunity to be physically united with Christ and all of eternity through the Eucharist.

Look at what St. Francis said about this very point. The sexual abuse of minors is a scandal today, because we have laws and we have media. It is not new. Up until there were laws, adults were sexually involved with minors. During Francis time, this was very common and not just among clergy. Fourteen-year old girls were forced into marriage with old men for financial concerns. Secular priests often had houseboys and you can imagine the rest. But they were not the only ones who had these houseboys.

Francis saw this and he was one of the few people of his time who felt very uncomfortable with all of this and many other other things too. But he siad something that resonates with every person whose faith is true. He wrote and said, “No one else, but the priest, can show me any visible and tangible sign of the physical presence of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Only the priest has the power to consecrate the sacred host and wine. No one but the priest can absolve my sins and guarrantee that they are forgiven. Therefore, if I met an angel and athe most wretched priest, I wold first kiss the hand of the priest and then the angel, because the angel does not have the power to consecrate or to forgive sins.” This is why people of real faith remain. It is not because the priest is a saint. If you stay because the priest is holy, you’re on a slippery slope. Priests come and go. Some are saints and others are nuts.

The Church has nothing to fear as would K-Mart or Walmart. If people leave, who loses? Those who leave, not the Church. The Church gets to keep her sacraments, the fullness of revelation, her apostolic succession, the keys to the Kingdom, and the promise of infallibility. What does the person who leaves take with him or her? He feels better. You can’t get into heaven on feeling better.

That’s why we Catholics do not worry too much about who leaves or how many leave. We have nothing to lose. Those who leave also leave may leave behind the troubles, but they also leave behind the most guarranteed means of salvation.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

Thank You!