A very interesting point.
I am not entirely convinced that the infiltration of the Church by homosexuals was not a Communist plot to begin with. Suppose you’re the head of the KGB: obviously you want to destroy the Catholic Church. How to do it? Since the Church is based on faith, the obvious path would be to undermine its credibility. Since it’s a thorn in your side precisely on the subject of moral doctrines, the obvious sort of credibility to try to undermine would be the Church’s moral credibility. If the whole matter were a game, that seems like a very natural strategy to undertake from the standpoint of the other side.
I believe that Zoe’s point is very interesting too. Because it had not occurred to me that John Paul came from a world of conspiracies. Under Communism the Polish Catholics were a thorn in their side. They were the only Christians that the Soviet Party had been unable to drive underground. The Poles had toughed it out. They had been led by such courageous people as Fr. Woytyla, Br. Maximilian Kolbe, Sr. Faustina.
For Pope John Paul, sinful priests existed, but they didn’t come in cartons. They were isolated cases. Suddenly he is confronted with a whole warehouse of them. He must have been in total disbelief. I vaguely remember reading somewhere that in a memo between John Paul and Cardinal Ratzinger about the Boston scandal, one of them said to the other, “The Americans love sensationalism.” They actually thought that it was media hype.
I believe that Zoe’s observation has much merit. Both of these men came from very sheltered existences. John Paul was a Pole and Benedict was Bavarian and a teacher most of his life. The Bavarians had suffered under the Nazis, because of their profound Catholicism in a predominant Protestant nation.
Maybe those of us who have not lived in such societies where there are conspiracies against the Church can’t put ourselves in their shoes. As I said before, I was blown away by this whole situation. I am one of the fortunate religious who has never lived in the same house with someone who has been accused of these crimes. But I know a religious house where there was an accusation. When I visited those friends, their sadness was just so obvious that you felt sad when you walked in. They were another order. But it does not matter. They are very holy men. They had one dysfunctional individual among them. When they realized this, they were in shock for months.
I had a very good friend who is a priest. He was caught in a scandal with a woman. I love this man very dearly. He even heard my confession many times. He celebrated the mass when I made vows. I cried for days when I heard about it. It hurt. This was my friend. I recall challenging him and asking him why. There was no answer. I struggled with my conscience for days.
I remembered that what he had done was very wrong and sinful. But I also remembered that I had made a solemn vow to obey St. Francis and his rule until death. The rule says that I must feel great love even for the most sinful priest, because only through the priest can I see anything of the physical presence of Christ and only through the priest can I obtain absolution for my sins.
My conscience struggled with my anger and indignation and my feeling of guilt for not living up to what I had vowed to obey. I was the hardest time in my life to feel trapped between anger, hurt, indignation and the duties of compassion, reverence for priests, and obedience.
I always go back to the same point. I go back to the cross and the silence of Mary. Her silence in the face of the heinous crime against her Son and yet she accepts humanity as her children. It was only through this meditation that I was able to listen to God rather than my emotions.
I hope this helps someone.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF
