I
Irish_Melkite
Guest
Lucy.
I offer my prayers for the healing of your spirit, your mind, and your body.
This is not a topic on which I ordinarily post, not because I don’t believe it to be important but because it is one regarding which I feel generally inadequate to provide comfort and solace to those who have been victims. But, your post was the first thing I read tonight after logging into the forum and I was struck by the sincerity of your words.
You have, I believe, answered your own question as well or better than anyone else can do. The Catholic Church’s handling of clerical sexual abuse can not be defended nor can the handling of similar scandals in other faiths by their respective hierarchs or leaderships. And I do not offer that last comment as a “it’s not just us” excuse - because I do not believe there is any excuse. It’s just that I strongly believe that the same factors have been at play in impeding all established ecclesia in responding to such events.
When the day is done, one fact is clear. Irrespective of the dogmatic, doctrinal, theological, spiritual, and praxis elements embodied in any religion, the principals who represent the religion to its followers - who effectively are perceived to be God’s representatives, however its faithful perceive God, are men and women - human beings. While Catholics believe, as do many other persons of faith, that their clergy, particularly their hierarchy, occupy a position of special standing in God’s sight (and, hopefully, they do), they are still - before all else - humans subject to all the vagaries, weaknesses, and illusions that plague all of the creatures with whom God has populated the earth.
Putting aside the weaknesses of character and the moral, spiritual, and mental defects that obviously afflict those who engage in such behavior, one has to look to the leadership of any given Church and wonder how it could:
As we both know, God has given man, including those charged with guiding His Churches, free will. Often, we only consider what that means in terms of whether it is exercised to sin or not sin. However, it also represents the capacity to exercise one’s talents to their fullest, not at all, or to any extent along the continuum between those two extremes. We see this every day, when persons acknowledged as “smart” do “stuipid” things. What does this have to do with the issue?
Consider how many individuals, committed to God’s work here on earth, are so incredibly seized with naivete that they cannot perceive of evil done by a peer in God’s service and fully imagine that anyone alleging it is somehow seeking to sabotage the work of God Himself.
Consider how many individuals in positions of authority in a Church perceive themselves obliged to assure that God’s Church not be embarrassed - as if allowing such would somehow cause God to be embarrassed.
Consider that men in positions of authority in the Church did not necessarily achieve that role because of their ability to deal with the sometimes ugly realities of the world and, faced with same, are clueless as to how to resolve them.
The answer to why and how this happened, why and how it was allowed to happen, why and how the opportunity to prevent it was allowed to slip past, why and how the opportunity to deal with it was allowed to slip past - the answer is the same. The Church may be of God, but it is comprised of men - humans - fallible, sinful, weak, humans.
Any Catholic who claims that the sin of this which rests upon so many in our Church has been overblown ought to seek out the Mystery of Penance and confess pridefulness and arrogance. That our Church has been besmirched to the extent that it has should be cautionary to all of us - the perception of the Church lies in how Catholics present themselves and their Church to the larger world. While there may be a statistically equal opportunity for one to be molested by a lifeguard, a plumber, a teacher, a television anchorperson, or an accountant, none of those are representative of a worldwide entity which portrays itself as the avenue to salvation. We are judged as what we put ourselves forth to be - and, in the case of a Church - of a Faith - the standard is raised accordingly. Persons who don’t recognize that are blind in their faith about their Faith - not anything God ever asked of us.
Many years,
Neil
I offer my prayers for the healing of your spirit, your mind, and your body.
This is not a topic on which I ordinarily post, not because I don’t believe it to be important but because it is one regarding which I feel generally inadequate to provide comfort and solace to those who have been victims. But, your post was the first thing I read tonight after logging into the forum and I was struck by the sincerity of your words.
You have, I believe, answered your own question as well or better than anyone else can do. The Catholic Church’s handling of clerical sexual abuse can not be defended nor can the handling of similar scandals in other faiths by their respective hierarchs or leaderships. And I do not offer that last comment as a “it’s not just us” excuse - because I do not believe there is any excuse. It’s just that I strongly believe that the same factors have been at play in impeding all established ecclesia in responding to such events.
When the day is done, one fact is clear. Irrespective of the dogmatic, doctrinal, theological, spiritual, and praxis elements embodied in any religion, the principals who represent the religion to its followers - who effectively are perceived to be God’s representatives, however its faithful perceive God, are men and women - human beings. While Catholics believe, as do many other persons of faith, that their clergy, particularly their hierarchy, occupy a position of special standing in God’s sight (and, hopefully, they do), they are still - before all else - humans subject to all the vagaries, weaknesses, and illusions that plague all of the creatures with whom God has populated the earth.
Putting aside the weaknesses of character and the moral, spiritual, and mental defects that obviously afflict those who engage in such behavior, one has to look to the leadership of any given Church and wonder how it could:
- fail to recognize that this was happening,
- choose to not accept that it could happen,
- respond inadequately when made aware of it,
- deny the existence of it,
- facilitate its ongoing continuance,
- seek to minimize its extent at victim expense,
- make excuses as to why it happened
- fail to implement adequate measures to prevent recurrences.
As we both know, God has given man, including those charged with guiding His Churches, free will. Often, we only consider what that means in terms of whether it is exercised to sin or not sin. However, it also represents the capacity to exercise one’s talents to their fullest, not at all, or to any extent along the continuum between those two extremes. We see this every day, when persons acknowledged as “smart” do “stuipid” things. What does this have to do with the issue?
Consider how many individuals, committed to God’s work here on earth, are so incredibly seized with naivete that they cannot perceive of evil done by a peer in God’s service and fully imagine that anyone alleging it is somehow seeking to sabotage the work of God Himself.
Consider how many individuals in positions of authority in a Church perceive themselves obliged to assure that God’s Church not be embarrassed - as if allowing such would somehow cause God to be embarrassed.
Consider that men in positions of authority in the Church did not necessarily achieve that role because of their ability to deal with the sometimes ugly realities of the world and, faced with same, are clueless as to how to resolve them.
The answer to why and how this happened, why and how it was allowed to happen, why and how the opportunity to prevent it was allowed to slip past, why and how the opportunity to deal with it was allowed to slip past - the answer is the same. The Church may be of God, but it is comprised of men - humans - fallible, sinful, weak, humans.
Any Catholic who claims that the sin of this which rests upon so many in our Church has been overblown ought to seek out the Mystery of Penance and confess pridefulness and arrogance. That our Church has been besmirched to the extent that it has should be cautionary to all of us - the perception of the Church lies in how Catholics present themselves and their Church to the larger world. While there may be a statistically equal opportunity for one to be molested by a lifeguard, a plumber, a teacher, a television anchorperson, or an accountant, none of those are representative of a worldwide entity which portrays itself as the avenue to salvation. We are judged as what we put ourselves forth to be - and, in the case of a Church - of a Faith - the standard is raised accordingly. Persons who don’t recognize that are blind in their faith about their Faith - not anything God ever asked of us.
Many years,
Neil
