Posted on 4/30/2002, 12:14:07 PM by Starmaker
Having written these commentaries for almost a decade now, it is seldom that I get a raft of demands wanting to hear my views on a certain topic. These past couple of weeks have produced such a demand and therefore I shall venture forth, even though I freely admit that I have very little to say which is unique and different.
The topic which is generating such interest is the scandal regarding pedophile priests inside the Roman Catholic Church. I was raised a Roman Catholic, served as an altar boy for many years, even registered for the seminary, although I didn't end up going. Some 34 years ago I became a Greek Catholic, and now serve as an Ordained Deacon in an Eastern Church that is in communion with the Roman Church.
I suppose at the outset it should be noted that all churches have this problem to some extent. The reason that this has become such an issue in the Roman Church is because it is one of the institutions within which the Bishops are responsible for the assignment of the clergy. In most Protestant churches, the ministers are "called" by the congregation. The elders of the congregation determine if the ministers stay or not. So when there is a moral problem in a Protestant church (adultery is one of the most serious problems among many Protestant clergy), the elders of the parish investigate and if they determine that there is truth to the charge, they determine the punishment. In some cases, where the minister is especially repentant, he may well be retained. In other cases, the minister is dismissed and may or may not find other work in the ministry.
In the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox churches and to some extent in the Anglican communion, when there is a moral problem, the matter gets referred to the Bishop and he determines the discipline to be given the offending priest.
That there are priests who fall morally should surprise no one. While the Church is a Divine Institution, it is populated with human beings who are subjected to all the temptations of fallen man, indeed perhaps more. So the faithful understand that priests sin and they are not angry and ready to jump ship because that revelation is now public.
What has so angered the average Roman Catholic is the behavior of their Bishops in this whole sad affair. The organization of which I have now been President for 25 years, the Free Congress Research and Education Foundation, had for over a decade a Catholic Center. The Center, in addition to producing the usual publications and holding conferences, had a unique training program developed by a Cuban priest on our payroll by the name of Father Enrique Rueda. Fr. Rueda developed the program to teach Catholics how to stand up for their rights in the Roman Catholic context. These training conferences were held all over the country, including in Boston, the home of Bernard Cardinal Law who has been at the center of the controversy in the American Catholic Church.
One such conference was held there not long after Law was transferred to Boston from a diocese in Missouri. One of the lay participants in the Conference stood up and told us a shocking tale of pedophile priests and said he and others had presented iron clad documentation to Cardinal Law and the Cardinal not only did nothing, he had turned on the parents who were making the complaints. They suddenly found themselves dealing with hard-nosed lawyers who threatened them with legal action for allegedly slandering these offending priests.
Father Rueda advised the parents to make the issue public, because that would force the Bishop to deal with the matter. The questioner rejected that suggestion on the grounds that it would create too great a scandal in the church. That was circa 1985. These same parents eventually ended up suing Cardinal Law, after it became clear that he kept these sinful priests around, shifting them from parish to parish. It took those parents more than 15 years to finally come to understand that the hierarchy was not going to do what it had the responsibility to do.
Let me say that I always liked Cardinal Law. I have had numerous dealings with him over the years, including his participation in a conference in Upper Michigan sponsored by the Free Congress Foundation and built around Father Richard John Neuhaus' book "The Catholic Moment." Neuhaus at the time was a Lutheran pastor.
But Law and all the others somehow along the way lost their spiritual direction. They thought that lawyers and P.R. types could handle what was nothing more nor less than a moral crisis, one that required moral leadership.
What has the faithful so riled up (I am getting angry words from the most passive of Catholics) is that these Cardinals and Bishops acted like CEOs of a major corporation and not like the spiritual leaders of a group of believers who put their faith in G-d and His Church.
And that, for my money, gets to the heart of the problem. The Bishops I got to know in my early days of church activity (men such as Moses E. Kiley and Roman Atkielski) were profoundly prayerful and spiritual men. You could feel it every time you encountered them, either at an official function in the church itself or in a private setting. Many had a good sense of humor but it was always within the Christian context. The money the church collected in those days was largely spent on opening new parochial schools and seminaries. Many of the dioceses were always on the financial edge because these Bishops were teachers and spiritual leaders, not businessmen.
Moreover, Bishops were selected in a different way back then. A handful of powerful Church leaders, such as Cardinal Spellman of New York and Cardinal McIntyre of Los Angeles, looked for leaders who would defend the faith. That is how you became a Bishop in the 1940s and '50s. Then about 40 years ago, the system was changed. Bishops began to be selected who could manage money well, but who may not have been especially skilled in the practice of their religion. Pope Paul VI formally changed the system during his reign, giving the national Bishops Conference a much greater role in the selection of Bishops. The Bishops conference worked closely with the Papal Nuncio assigned to this country. When the nuncio was "progressive" in his outlook, he tended to recommend the least spiritual of the lot and hence today we have a body of Bishops who would make great corporate executives but who are not in touch with the bedrock spiritual feelings of their flock. There were exceptions, and I thought Cardinal Law was one of them. Clearly, it now appears that he was not.
That is why this recent meeting that the Cardinals and a few Bishops had with the Pope did not satisfy the expectations of average Catholics. They expected something profound from the meeting and they got something far less. Again, the Bishops were looking at the whole question from a pragmatic point of view. That's what you do when you are a businessman and not a spiritual leader. Theodore Cardinal McCarrick of Washington, D.C. pushed for a "one strike and you are out" policy, and he lost. Francis Cardinal George of Chicago explained that there is a big difference between a notorious serial abuser who goes after boys on a systematic basis and a young priest, perhaps under the influence of alcohol, who might make advances to a 17 year old girl. True enough, but the faithful don't see that much of a difference.
In times past, one of these Bishops, perhaps Cardinal Law, would have been made to take the fall so that the rest of the Church would understand that this was a serious matter and not business as usual. Instead Law returned to Boston, where a strong majority of Catholics want him gone, and assured everyone that he is still Archbishop of Boston for the duration. The Old Boys Network is sticking together.
There is some talk about doing a better job of screening Seminarians, since in many seminaries today the majority of those enrolled are homosexuals. There is even talk of permitting married priests, as is done in the Eastern Orthodox Churches, and which once was a practice in the Roman church as well. That is all well and good.
But before this crisis is going to be solved in the American church, it will require different leadership. I don't how to get back to the practice of selecting genuine spiritual leaders as Bishops, but in my view that is the heart of the matter. Without a different type of leadership, one that is in harmony with the true believing faithful, the current crowd can tinker around the edges but little will improve for the simple reason that these Bishops just don't get it. And if they keep running the church as they have, their financial acumen won't do them much good either, because many of the faithful, seeing these Bishops in action, are determined to close their checkbooks. Cardinal Gagnon, formerly of Montreal, once told me after he had been in Rome for several years "John Paul II as a teaching Pope is without peer, but as a governing Pope he is an utter disaster." It may well be that to get the new crop of Bishops the American Church desperately needs, it will take the Pope's successor to accomplish the job. How long that will take is in G-d's hands.
Meanwhile, the American church will continue to suffer.
Because Weyrich was motivated to make that change by his concerns about how the Catholic Church was operating in the U.S., I think he is out of line here (even though he is correct) in his criticism of the Church. He shook the dust off his sandals and moved on a long time ago, so he may as well be offering criticism about the internal functions of a Jewish or Islamic sect.
Well Duh! We expect our priests to adhere to the vow of celibacy that they embraced voluntarily - but I think the faithful DO see quite a bit of difference between the two "for instances" mentioned above. One is homosexuality that accounts for about 95% of the abuse and has remained unchecked for many years along with a watered down catachism - that's what happens when the Cardinals go "PC."
"There is some talk about doing a better job of screening Seminarians, since in many seminaries today the majority of those enrolled are homosexuals. There is even talk of permitting married priests, as is done in the Eastern Orthodox Churches, and which once was a practice in the Roman church as well. That is all well and good."
Well, it is good to know where Paul M. Weyrich stands on this issue - the Pope took it off of the table for discussion, so only the dissenters discuss it.
The problem is that before 1965ish, people who disagreed with the Catholic Church and what She stands for left the Church. Now they all stay and want to change Her to conform to their own ideals.
C.S. Lewis has an essay, "First and Second Things" (included in God in the Dock), in which he writes that those who put second things first usually end up not getting the second things either: "To sacrifice the greater good for the less and then not to get the lesser good after all - that is the suprising folly."
Did none of the "good managers" recognize in 1985 with the first multi-million dollar settlement in the St. Louis case (underscored by the Flynn report noting this was in fact the way the wind was blowing) realize that, even if they had no interest in doing the right thing for the right reason, maybe they should have done it for the "wrong" reason.
It is difficult to see how the most unworldly, financially naive holy man in the world could have made a worse financial mess; and he wouldn't have left the spiritual mess.
What has so angered the average Roman Catholic is the behavior of their Bishops in this whole sad affair.
This quote and this article express very well what I have been feeling. I am going to send this article to all of my friends and family because he is able to say in a reasonable way what so often I find difficult to say without great anger.
Now, here I go, shouting from the rooftops:
We do not need CEOs or any other kind of administrators. We need bishops who are true saints like the early Church fathers. We need bishops who are devoted to Jesus -- devoted to Jesus present in the Holy Eucharist and in all the Tabernacles. We need bishops who can preach the faith in Jesus Christ, rally the faithful, rebuke sin and vice, and be ready to lay down their lives for the sake of Our Lord.
Every bishop needs to understand and honor the Supremacy of Peter. JPII is not the Chairman of the Board, he is Christ's hand-picked successor to St. Peter. JPII's problem has been that a number of the bishops are just waiting for him to die. What do you do with people who never take your words to heart? Who smile at you and kiss your hand but behind your back ignore everything you say? These bishops have let packs of wolves in to play with the little sheep.
JPII needs strong shepherds in the field.
We have a MOB of Cardinals and Bishops with their Clerical Handmaidens who are tough on Mothers, Fathers,Children and most of all they are tough on the Faithful Catholics who want to be good and Holy and want to belong to the Catholic Church they grew up with.
They want to be as close to God as they can get and they will go to great lengths to get there,even suffering the Idiots in charge and a list of Rules you can't believe.
The Mob in charge, are not so tough when it comes to Homosexuals, Blackmail, real courage and standing up for the Teachings of Jesus Christ, and they are not so tough when they should Protect and Defend the Innocent Children in their charge.
The Mob has allowed Homosexual Criminals and Practicing Homosexuals to run wild for the last 20 or 30 years that We know of, perpetrating the most Heinous Acts of Brutality which destroyed the lives of little children.
This tough MOB is infiltrated with Homosexual Clergy who have controlled our church selected Seminarians, permitted and promoted the Homosexual lifestyle within the ranks of the clergy.
But they are really not tough ,they have taken advantage of the good People in the church who couldn't or wouldn't think this could be happening and they have to be thrown out by the Good People.
After all Law has done to our Church He still has the Gall to give Suppression orders against Faithful Catholics, who want nothing, but to belong to the Church of their Childhood.
We must get rid of the Mob through Purge and Purification and rededicate Our church to the Teachings and Example of Jesus Christ.
No Purification, No Money!
That individual bears partial responsibility for any subsequent child abuse by the priest(s) concerned..
I disagree. I believe Weyrich has MORE moral authority and objectivity than many Catholics do on this subject. He was once devoted to Rome, but the deeper he got into its core, the more he found to be disturbing. Ultimately, he left, and I'm sure he had to state his reasons when he did. It's not like he abandoned the church without warning.
Back then, no one listened to him or anyone else who sought to illuminate the ugly flaws in the Roman Church. Now, people are angry and more willing to hear what others have to say. What better time for someone like Weyrich to speak up?
I think the mistake many Catholics have made is to put too much reverence on mere men. The Church can be a beautiful thing, but it obviously is NOT infallible -- at least it won't be until its hierarchy is willing to judge its own actions and repent as God requires. Right now these people are so focused on self-preservation and saving face it's disgusting...and very transparent. I really feel like we're watching a self-destruction of the Catholic Church in America, and it's not pretty.
If I were raised as a Protestant but converted to Catholicism late in my adult life, the last thing I would care about is how my "old" religion was being destroyed by scandal. Anyone who wanted to know about why I converted would be welcome to ask, and I would tell them exactly what drove me to do so.
But even if I did care enough to write about it, Protestants would rightly wonder how relevant my comments were.
AB
So Eastern Catholics aren't allowed to offer constructive criticism of practices in the Western Church?
I have always maintained that a priest or prelate who lets his personal spiritual life slide cannot be a good or holy pastor. The immersion of the priestly soul into the life of the Spirit is the most important aspect of his personal holiness. He cannot lead souls to Heaven if his own is in danger of damnation.
"Without a different type of leadership, one that is in harmony with the true believing faithful, the current crowd can tinker around the edges but little will improve for the simple reason that these Bishops just don't get it. And if they keep running the church as they have, their financial acumen won't do them much good either, because many of the faithful, seeing these Bishops in action, are determined to close their checkbooks."
I suppose this is what we get when we not only let the bishops police themselves, but elect their leadership from among themselves, and form consensus. The NCCB needs to be dissolved immediately.
And, apparently, money is the only recourse the laity has against this "machine." Threats of exposure lead nowhere but to the Poorhouse for the hapless plaintiffs. Pleas are ignored or worse, and access to the Holy Father is so restricted that there is NO possible way to put information into his hands. Politics among the prelates is the downfall of the American church. God help us. Which of us, as Catholics, would ever have dreamed that the only way to discipline a wayward bishop (Perish the thought!) would be to dry up the money spigot?? Church, we are in DEEP doodoo.
If the CEO of Ford leaves to join General Motors, he might have the best ideas you've ever heard about what's wrong with Ford. If he starts making public statements to that effect, though, you can be sure there are going to be a lot of people questioning his motivations, or his sanity.
I disagree. Weyrich did not leave the Catholic Church. He changed rites. While this scandal is stemming from the actions of priests and bishops in the Latin Rite, the impact is affecting the Church as a whole. As a Catholic, Weyrich ought to be concerned.
A Greek Catholic is still as Catholic as the pope. This is more like a Franciscan offering suggestions for problems in the Jesuit order; just like Greek and Roman Catholics, everybody's in the same communion, though with different patriarchs, disciplines, and liturgical traditions. Damage taking place in one part hurts the whole, since the whole church is the body of Christ.
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