Church and Crime, or where Jeremiah Makes an Appearance

Our trust in the Episcopacy or formal structure of the Catholic Church in tatters, we are free to despair. Or not. My personal disgust with the leadership of the Catholic Church would not be possible, I think, except that I have been well-trained as a Catholic. The criminal acts against children are appalling to anyone, of course, and qualify in themselves to bring a verdict against the institution that committed and assented - by silence and complicity - to those acts. But the crimes against the Sacred Body, the Blessed Sacrament, in allowing criminals to administer and partake of the sacraments are, to a Catholic, of a whole other magnitude. So, I am grateful in a tangible sense for my disgust as it would not be so clear, so clean, so correct, except that the object of my disgust taught me to value so well what it has chosen to insult.

Every column and opinion piece or apology I have read to date has fallen short of the mark in one or another capacity, and this is understandable as the mark - the logical conclusion - is makes it difficult if not impossible to practice the Catholic faith. Put another way, assuming we are serious about being Christians, how can we associate with an institution that has committed the crimes ascribed to the Catholic Church? This is not a matter of a few rogue priests, but thousands. The number of documented victims is in the tens of thousands, but this is only over the past few decades, and these are only the direct targets of abuse, not to mention families, communities, etc. It would be a paramount delusion to imagine that this abuse is only recent in history. In an ironic twist, commentators blame homosexuals for 'infiltrating' the priesthood, when of course this has been going on forever. It is only because society has grown comfortable with discussing homosexuality that these sorts of facts have seen the light of day. In other words, the Catholic Church can thank Gay Pride for airing its dirty laundry. If only gay priests had the moral courage to "come out" we might get somewhere.

But, of course, the Catholic Church is the only game in town if you happen to take the words of Jesus Christ literally. So sadly, no, I do not think the church is facing its "#metoo" moment. I don't think the church will ever have a #metoo moment until such time as its priests and seminarians can manifest the level of moral courage exhibited by the women of the #metoo movement - another irony lost on Catholic commentators.

Turning to solutions, the bishops might - just might - put into place structures to promote investigations with greater transparency...but so what? This is not a corporation. This is not a political party. This is (or was supposed to be) the Apostolic Church. I can pretend my trust has been rebuilt (and already I see Catholics rushing to feel good about feeling bad....) - I might even look like I believe it. Going to church every Sunday, praying the Rosary, going to confession, etc. But in the back of my mind, in my heart, the central question remains, and doubt has taken hold: not of my faith but of its ministers and the very structure that promoted them.

In brief, I can relate to Jeremiah and his ilk. To be crystal clear, I am not a prophet (just a trademark paralegal and dresser of an apple tree), but I know a stink when I smell it. Jeremiah, as I recall, did not seem to spend a whole lot of time talking up the great services at the Temple. He was disgusted at the priests and the people. We can be glad, I suppose, that in our time only the priests and bishops are to blame for the present circumstance  though, as I have mentioned, commentators blame the "culture" and routinely do so to explain problems in the Church. (As an aside, I've always wondered what the big, brave Catholic Church had to fear from popular culture anyway. Are we not the Truth?)

But Jeremiah - as I said - while he took the church and kings and whatnot to task had a very good relationship with God. They were on a first name basis, you might say. And while God does not speak to me (and I'll bet you're glad to hear that!) He is present to me and to all who believe and those who don't in the things of this world, the major and minor miracles, of life, love, and forgiveness and all their complexity and transformative power. And, Jeremiah did not abandon his faith. On the contrary, his every word and action was an expression of absolute faithfulness.

Therefore, I am oddly not angry or sad - righteously disgusted, yes, but we have any number of avenues to explore in our righteous disgust. We do not have to obsess on this crisis and we should not allow our lives to be ruined by others' errors. Life, love, and forgiveness should not be made to suffer at our hands. God has suffered enough at the hands of the Episcopacy that the faithful should make every effort to continue to lead decent, honest lives, loving God for who He is and treating each other with the love due ourselves. Our essential mission has not changed and cannot change.

So, we can be both disgusted and true, disgusted with the Church and joyful at being disgusted rather than conceding truths which were never ours to concede in the first place. What will you do today in recognition of the truth? Even posing the question clears the mind and prompts the heart....

What of your Crimes, Bishops? A Piece on McCarrick

I've given myself a few weeks to chew on the McCarrick disaster, as I am fond of calling it, to consider the facts at hand and their import and what should be done in consideration of those facts. Additional facts may come to light to shade my opinion one way or another, but my central concerns have not changed since early on though they have sharpened into focus. My concerns and worry have moved on from the person of McCarick and his appalling actions, that is, the seduction and/or rape of young men and at least one child we know of; after all, despicable behavior in itself is not a surprise. In a Catholic Bishop? Yes, actions of the sort purported by McCarick qualify I think as incredibly bad, reaching to and attaining the the heights of evil. Or, let's put it this way: when people hear a hundred years from now what McCarrick did they will be disgusted, and his behavior will be yet another black mark on the Church, now, and forever. McCarrick's name (and others yet unknown, perhaps - though I personally think Cardinal Law should get at least a dishonorable mention for his suppression of crimes in the archdiocese of Boston...) - but I say, the name of McCarrick will ring on the lips of anyone of a mind to question the authority and authenticity of the Roman Catholic Church. He alongside other characters, including a handful of notorious Popes - but, as I said, it is not McCarrick's actions or character that most concern me. Not at all. For evil men are great infiltrators, and a rotten apple is bound to slip into the barrel now and again.

So I have moved on in a sense from McCarrick except to wish he would confess his crimes publicly, or that those he raped and fondled and subjugated to his power would come forward and say something. A brief note: it's interesting to me that women, feminists, have had the guts to come forward in the #metoo movement to name their assailants but that there is nary a peep from the brave men of holy orders who McCarrick had his way with. And this is yet another point of shame, to my way of thinking, which brings me back to me central concern, which is this:

Why did the Catholic Church do nothing about McCarrick?

But perhaps this question seems too obvious. It is certainly the question everyone is asking, and the answers vary. Predictably, one answer gaining currency is that no one did anything because our culture is too accepting of homosexuality. This answer is, of course, nonsense. The commission of any sexual act other than that of conjugal union qualifies as sinful. One can be homosexual and Catholic - of course! One simply cannot engage in homosexual acts and remain in a state of Grace. Nor can one engage in adulterous acts, or obtain divorce, or use contraception, etc. and remain in a state of Grace. The Church is quite clear on this point. It promotes the vocation to chastity or temperance for all persons, including married couples (see the Catholic Catechism (CC), Section 2337). Here is an excerpt from the Catechism to put us in the proper frame of mind for this discussion:

"Chastity includes an apprenticeship in self-mastery which is a training in human freedom. The alternative is clear: either man governs his passions and finds peace, or he lets himself be dominated by them and becomes unhappy. Man's dignity therefore requires him to act out of conscious and free choice, as moved and drawn in a personal way from within, and not by blind impulses in himself or by mere external constraint. Man gains such dignity when, ridding himself of all slavery to the passions, he presses forward to his goal by freely choosing what is good and, by his diligence and skill, effectively secures for himself the means suited to this end." (CC 2339)

The Church contemplates and attains to one goal: unity. Unity in mind, body, and spirit. As Christ was and is the very person in whom all that is true and divine is unified, so we as persons are called to a self-same unity. It is this aspect of Christianity - of Christ in his divine person - that controls moral law. 

Or so we are told. In this context, let me repeat my question: 

                                  Why did the Catholic Church do nothing about McCarrick?

How could a person - any person - be allowed to administer the Sacraments and - worse yet, it seems to me - be allowed to receive Communion when it was known by members of the Church that he had committed the crimes McCarrick committed? How could persons in the church - including Bishops, priests, and the seminarians he raped - allow this to happen? It would have been better if the Blessed Host and chalice of Sacred Blood had been torn from his hands and dashed to the floor rather than to allow him to insult and violate the Body of Christ in sharing communion with Him. This crime goes unconfessed and unaddressed, and it is my principal concern because the crimes and complicity attack the very person of Jesus Christ. 

None of the saintly twaddle and culture-blame being blown around these days addresses the crimes of the Episcopacy in not merely in allowing McCarrick to carry out his crimes against human persons but against the Trinity itself. 

How I wish church leadership would speak to the crimes committed against the very heart of the Church by its silence and inaction. Of course, I assume the Church recognizes the nature of these crimes. Otherwise, the Mass is a mere show and the persons engaged in it are actors in a sad, if lovely, historical play. I choose to believe such is not the case. I ask our Bishops to indicate that they believe, too, while addressing the crimes committed against our belief.