The Child Sex Scandal and Catholic Bashers

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Susan Kehoe

Rant Alert.

Every Catholic blogger who writes a post about the Catholic moral teaching on human sexuality, is guaranteed to receive at least one comment referring to the priest sex scandal. Exhibit A: this oh so original comment on this post:

 “The most evil sexual immorality is priests raping children, and the Catholic church (sic) has hidden thousands and thousands of known child rapists (according to their own John Jay report). Fix that first, Archbishop Dolan, by creating measures to put those guilty priests in prison. Stop protecting those criminals that ruined child’s lives.”

First let me be clear: the priest sex scandal is evil. It has harmed the Church—the very body of Christ. Predator priests have killed innocent souls. Lives have been destroyed. Their crimes call out to heaven.

Most Catholics—myself included—were devastated when the scandal broke. It was, and is, an all too vivid lesson in how sin harms each and every member of the body of Christ.

The reality is that although we know that the Church is holy it is also a Church of sinners and a few saints. As I wrote in May of 2010,

“Jesus Christ is the true and proper head of the Church.  The Church is the Mystical Body of Christ…   But the Body of Christ is comprised of fallen human beings who are inclined to sin. The Church is one, but the unity is fractured. The Church is Holy, but she is full of sinners who are capable of evil. This is a paradox that since the long lent of 2002 has been very painful for those of us sitting in the pews. It is even more painful for our faithful Bishops, Priests and Deacons who are tainted by, as Pope Benedict said, “the filth in the Church”.

In 2000 years the Church has had many scandals, many bad bishops and even popes. But she still stands. Jesus said:

And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church,* and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. (Mt 16:18).

I cannot, and will not, excuse the evil actions of some priests. Further I do not understand why some bishops did not take decisive action. It is beyond belief that some bishops were involved in a cover up.

The scandal, however, should not be used as an argument against the moral teaching of the Church. The teaching of the Church on faith and morals comes from God—not human beings.

Further not all priests and bishops are culpable. There is no evidence that Archbishop Dolan was ever involved in covering up for priests under his authority. None.

Oh and Archbishop Dolan has no authority to jail priests. Take it to the criminal justice system. The Church does not have prisons. The problem is that the scandal is decades old. Many of the priests have died. The statue of limitations has run out in many other cases. Priests have been jailed. Thank God.

I suspect that my commenter hates the Catholic Church. Period.  The priest scandal is a justification for that hate.

Frankly, however, I think that God did bring good out of evil. Well before that long Lent of 2002, I had been telling my favorite deacon that adults having sex with children was dangerously close to be accepted by, at least, by some (elite) radical liberals. That has a way of trickling down to us peasants. That is one reason that same sex marriage is legal here in Iowa.

If I was right, and I think I was, the scandals put on the brakes to that. You can’t very well condemn the Church when you think that adults having sex with children is normal and permissible.

That does not, however, justify evil.

What I want to know why is there no outrage at the fact that child predators are on the rise. They are legion. They come from every profession and every class. It is a major problem in our schools, in Hollywood, in every institution and place where children gather.

Why? Where are the studies that attempt to identify the growing problem?

The Catholic Church may be late, but it has addressed the problem. Programs, policies, and regulations have been put in place to keep our children as safe as humanly possible.

What about the institutions (e.g. Public Schools) where predators lurk?

Where is the outrage?

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To the above commenter: You are welcome to comment on this blog, even when you strongly disagree. But only if you use reasoned arguments. Otherwise you will be banned.

Posted in Catholic Church, Catholic Church Scandals, Child sexual abuse | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Surfer Priest Jailed as Teenager Hit by Divine 2×4 At 20

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Susan Kehoe

Fr. Don Calloway has a great story of conversion and redemption. H/T Deacon Greg.

Let us pray that he doesn’t fall into the devils trap: the cult of celebrity priests.

Posted in Clergy, Converts, Vocations | Tagged | 2 Comments

My Pastor Climbed a Mountain…

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Susan Kehoe

And Deacon Greg beat me to the punch. Again. Sigh. This early bird needs to start looking for worms much earlier. 

I–and our entire parish–am just very thankful that Monsignor Bognanno made it back in one piece. Our prayers were answered.

Catholic News Service has the story. Oh and Monsignor wasn’t kidding when he said,

“my idea of camping is a Motel 6 with black and white television.”

Please pray for him as he begins his radiation treatments. He is a holy and dynamic priests who has brought many souls to God.

Posted in Clergy, Cool Stuff | Tagged | 3 Comments

Practice silence and be prepared for hell to break loose. UPDATE

Posted on January 17, 2012 by Susan Kehoe

Dr. Thomas Neal, who I introduced in this post, has a thought provoking post on cultivating silence.

Excerpt:

“But more, silence that is pregnant with consent, with a receptivity that is not merely an absence of sound but presence to a Word.  Such silence permits God to heal my broken self, refashion my fallen ‘I’ and draw me into the safe refuge of his threefold communion of Persons.

Yet again, at what great risk God opened his own inner core to man!  What confidence this unimaginable display of divine vulnerability inspires in me to trust that he who is closer to me than I am to myself will never harm me, never betray me, but rather wishes only to Sup with me in the silence of love’s nuptial surrender.

All this to say, practice silence every day.  But be prepared: as soon as you resolve to begin, all hell will break loose to thwart you.

Come and dwell in me, O Lord, and in the silence, save me.” Read more…..

The lack of silence in our culture bothers me greatly. Since childhood noise tends to overwhelm me. Perhaps that is why I didn’t like music, especially rock, until my favorite deacon introduced me to classical music. Classical music, unlike any other genre, lifts my soul to a higher plane. Sometimes it points my soul to heaven’s gate.

In a previous post, where I whined about the absence of Holy Silence, I wrote:

In the Screwtape Letters by C.S Lewis, a senior devil instructs his nephew, a devil in training, that noise is a powerful tool to keep people away from God:

“Noise which alone defends us from silly qualms, despairing scruples and impossible desires. We will make the whole universe a noise in the end. We have already made great strides in this direction as regards the Earth. The melodies and silences of Heaven will be shouted down in the end. But I admit we are not yet loud enough, or anything like it. Research is in progress. (Chapter 22)”

The Screwtape letters were published in 1942. Before televisions in every home, iPods, cell phones etc.

I would think that the research is complete. And the results implemented. The devils can sleep in even on Sunday morning.

“Come and dwell in me, O Lord, and in the silence, save me.”

The funny thing is that while silence comes naturally to me, prayer does not. There are many distractions in the silence. My thoughts. My worries, My not really wanting to hear what God has to say to me. Yeah. I know. It is all about me.

If  I still my heart and mind and let God in, I might have to submit and be transformed. God just might cure me of spiritual sloth once and for all.

And then all hell will surely break loose. Allowing God in can be very dangerous indeed.

St. Anthony the Abbot (and hermit), experienced hell in a very personal way.

“Anthony knew how difficult this was. Throughout his life he argued and literally wrestled with the devil. His first temptations to leave his ascetic life were arguments we would find hard to resist — anxiety about his sister, longings for his relatives, thoughts of how he could have used his property for good purposes, desire for power and money. When Anthony was able to resist him, the devil then tried flattery, telling Anthony how powerful Anthony was to beat him. Anthony relied on Jesus’ name to rid himself of the devil. It wasn’t the last time, though. One time, his bout with the devil left him so beaten, his friends thought he was dead and carried him to church. Anthony had a hard time accepting this. After one particular difficult struggle, he saw a light appearing in the tomb he lived in. Knowing it was God, Anthony called out, “Where were you when I needed you?” God answered, “I was here. I was watching your struggle. Because you didn’t give in, I will stay with you and protect you forever.”

Oh my. Perhaps the distractions that I experience in the silence are Satan’s attempt to keep me away from hearing the Word.  Well he has succeeded.

It is time to cry out to God for help.

“Come and dwell in me, O Lord, and in the silence, save me.”

UPDATE:  The Pope has published his prayer intentions for next year. (H/T Deacon Greg). For September:

That people today, often overwhelmed by noise, may rediscover the value of silence and listen to the voice of God and their brothers and sisters.

Okay. Two references in one day on silence. God, are you trying to get my attention?

Posted in God, Prayer | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Marriage and Ordained Ministers in the Catholic Church

Posted on January 16, 2012 by Susan Kehoe

A reader has a question,  “What is a Deacon? I thought Catholics had priests who are not married”.

I am going to answer this in two posts.

First there are three degrees of Holy Orders in the Catholic Church, bishop, priest, and deacon. A bishop has the fullness of the Sacrament of Holy Orders as he has been ordained to all three degrees. A priest is first ordained a deacon before he is ordained a priest. A permanent deacon is only ordained to the diaconate.

St. Ignatious of Antioch (d. 117) could not envision the Church without all three:

“Let everyone revere the deacons as Jesus Christ, the bishop as the image of the Father, and the presbyters as the senate of God and the assembly of the apostles. For without them one cannot speak of the Church.”

In the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church priests are men who are unmarried and who intend to remain celibate. Exceptions to this rule or discipline have been made for Anglican priests who become Catholic and are ordained as Catholic Priests. They must be married at the time of ordination, and if their wife dies (or there is a divorce) they may not remarry.

In the Eastern Rite of the Catholic Church, a married man may be ordained a priest, but he may not become a bishop. If he is single at the time of ordination, he may not marry. A married priest cannot become a bishop.

A (permanent) deacon may be a married man at the time of his ordination. If he is single, he may not marry after ordination. If a deacon’s wife dies, he may not re-marry.

I suspect that deacon’s wives, and wives of priests, are some of the most prayed for women in the Church!

Related:

If your blood pressure is a bit low today go read this New York Times article. Geesh! Catholics are used to married clergy since the permanent diaconate was restored after Vatican II.  We wives are treated very well thank you.

Over at Ignatius, Carl Olson takes apart the article, so I don’t have to.

Coming Soon:

What is a deacon?

Posted in Catholic Church, Clergy | Leave a comment

Archbishop Dolan: “I am going to preach about sex”.

Posted on January 16, 2012 by Susan Kehoe

The New York Daily News reports on the good bishop’s Sunday homily.

Excerpt:

I’m going to preach about sex,” he declared.

“Now I’ve got your attention.”

Dolan linked “sexual immorality” with society’s ills — violence, sex crimes, disease and broken families — and called on priests to do a better job of encouraging the sexually virtuous.

“The church has at times in the past, sadly, come across as as some naysaying, puritanical nag, always giving a big ‘No, no, no’ to one of life’s greatest joys,” he said.

But modern society often reduces sex to “animal rutting” or its “most popular contact sport,” he said.

He didn’t mention any one show or star by name, but Dolan clearly seemed to be targeting the bedhopping that’s become regular fare on TV and reality shows like “Jersey Shore.”

“Truth be told, it is chastity and purity that liberates us, while immorality enslaves us,” he said.  Read more……

Go archbishop!

Posted in Catholic Moral Teaching, Culture Wars | Tagged | 2 Comments

The Irish Monk Who Was Burned by a Demon

Posted on January 16, 2012 by Susan Kehoe

I love being Catholic.  The Catholic Hearld (U.K) on St. Fursey:

“Fursey (died 648) was an Irish monk who helped to advance Christianity in both East Anglia and northern France. Precisely where and when Fursey was born is unknown. According to a seventh-century life, he established a monastery at Louth, some 35 miles north of Dublin.

The Venerable Bede records that Fursey experienced a vision, in which angels carried him out of his body to a great height. Looking down into a gloomy valley, he saw four fires. The first, an angel explained, was Falsehood; the next Covetousness; the third Discord and the last Injustice. Gradually these fires drew together into one mighty conflagration.

Fursey became alarmed. The angel, though, reassured him: “It will not burn you because you did not kindle it; for although it appears as a great and terrible fire, it tests everyone according according to his desert, and will burn away sinful desires.” Fursey did not entirely escape, for one of the demons who tortured fallen spirits in the flames thrust a victim against him, causing him to be burnt on his (presumably ghostly) shoulder and jaw.

Fursey recognised the man, and remembered that he had appropriated some of his clothes after he died. Restored once more to his body, he found that he had a permanent scar on his shoulder and jaw.” Continue reading….

Posted in Catholic, Saints | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Bad Catholic Takes Down “Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus”

Posted on January 13, 2012 by Susan Kehoe

Marc Barnes, The Bad Catholic, does an excellent job of taking apart the misguided sentiment and illogical arguments contained in this video, Why I hate Religion, But Love Jesus (H/T The Anchoress). Excerpt:

“So onto the first bit of silliness — the idea that Jesus came to abolish religion. Unforgivable. He literally said the opposite: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” What were the Law and the Prophets? Judaism. What is Judaism? A religion. What did Jesus specifically say he was NOT going to abolish? That’s right. A religion. (Aaand you just got Kris Kringled.)

This is made apparent not only in the words, but in the actions of Jesus Christ. Whether you believe in the sacraments or not, there is no doubt that Christ established ritual. It’s one thing to ignore Christ’s statement to “eat my body.” It’s another to ignore his command to “do this in memory of me.” Christ commanded that we have ritual. The early church followed this ritual, they obeyed his command to “do this in memory of me.” We know this because Paul says: “Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ?” Does the mere Christ-follower-religion-hater obey Christ’s command to eat his body and drink his blood, and to do it in memory of Him? I do not mean ask whether they believe in the True Presence of Christ in the bread and wine, I simply mean to ask whether they follow the ritual Christ established at all? If not, it would seem that to be a Christ-follower is to ignore the commands Christ bid you follow. And there’s more of this Christ guy being ridiculously religious.

He established a priesthood in the Apostles. If that word freaks you out, I’ll rephrase: He gave certain men very distinct roles.”

I am going to copy and paste this great post from not so Bad Catholic and keep it in my files for future reference. Read the whole post; the excerpt does not do it justice.

Posted in Catholic Church, Christianity, Jesus Christ | 4 Comments

Baby Got Book?

Posted on January 12, 2012 by Susan Kehoe

Dr. Tom Neal is the director of the St. Joseph’s Educational Center for the Diocese of Des Moines. He is a theologian and a gifted teacher. I always take something profound from his talks even when I know the subject well. He has inspired me to strive to be a better Catechist.

Last night he taught the Catechist in-service for our parish Religious Education program. His topic was Catholics and the Bible. What impressed me was his ability to engage the culture to teach and evangelize. Here is a wonderful example:

I thought that I would never stop laughing. My favorite deacon enjoyed it so much that when we got home he asked me to find the video on YouTube, and then we watched it again.

It is rather odd, though. Our idea of contemporary music is Handel or Beethoven. Oh and my personal favorite, which the Pope shares, is even older. Mozart.

Well Dr. Neal does have an advantage. He still has teenagers at home, and he is much younger.

I am going to need help being culturally relevant.

Do check out the St. Joseph’s Educational site. There is much to gnaw on there for the theologically hungry. Dr. Neal also has a personal blog, Neal Obstat, where he opines on all things theological. I go there daily; a passer by might hear me say, Wow. Or huh? I mean that in a positive way. His musings can twist my brain into a pretzel. And that is a good thing. Really

Posted in Catholic Church, Cool Stuff, Scripture | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

God, Prayer and Tebow Time

Posted on January 10, 2012 by Susan Kehoe

My favorite deacons is a very happy Bronco fan. He was leading the Youth Group on Sunday evening, but I sent him several text messages to keep him up on the Bronco vs Steelers score. I don’t understand football, so I couldn’t send play by plays.

The Anchoress noticed an interesting coincidence:

“I must admit, I got a mild kick out of this bit on the statistics of yesterday’s Bronco game:

It’s surely all coincidence, but how many yards did Tebow throw for as he led the Denver Broncos to a 29-23 overtime win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in the NFL’s divisional playoffs on Sunday night?

Answer: 316.

And what did Tebow have on his eye black as he led the Florida Gators to victory in the 2009 national championship game three years ago to the day of his performance in Denver Sunday night?

Here is another one: Tebow completed 10 passes on 21 attempts Sunday. What was his average yards per pass completion?

Answer: 31.6.

And what did Tebow have on his eye black as he led the Florida Gators to victory in the 2009 national championship game three years ago to the day of his performance in Denver Sunday night?

Answer: John 3:16. [“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”]

Heh. I have always loved God’s sense of humor.

But honestly, who knows whether the whole 316-3:16 thing is God (or his angels) feeling puckish, or it’s all a giant and fun co-incidence or there is not-so-subtle reference to Luke 12:8 at play:

I tell you the truth, everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, the Son of Man will also acknowledge in the presence of God’s angels.

No one can possibly know if the freakish numbers accompanying yesterday’s game actually mean anything. Is it God being reassuring? Crafty leprechauns out to distract us from what is more important? Perhaps the numbers game is the underworld distorting issues of faith and prayer; perhaps it is the unwitting result of a collective-consciousness obsession.

Everyone will believe what they like, and we’re all free to. I tend to come down on the story somewhere between Shakespeare and a cockney philosopher: There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt in your philosophy, Horatio, and it’s a funny ol’ world, ain’t it?

Father James Martin, asked the question by the WaPo, goes full-Jesuit on the story:

All this raises the inevitable question, and one that I’ve been asked numerous times over the last few months: Is God answering Tim Tebow’s prayers?

Well, in good Jesuitical fashion the answer is: Yes, no, and I don’t know.”

Even if you don’t like football, there is a lot to glean from the post. Do go and read the whole thing.

 

Posted in Christianity, Cool Stuff, Prayer | Tagged , | Leave a comment