The Ancell Review

Some people in their writings have tried to use the scandals in the Church to discredit the Church’s teaching.  Mark Shea explains why this doesn’t work.  If you ever get into this argument, here’s a quote that explains it nicely:

The used car salesman who says, “Trust me” can be refuted if you produce his rap sheet.  But the math teacher who says that 2+2=4 is not refuted when you show him to be a drug dealer.  The truth that bishops hand along does not depend on their personal holiness, any more than the truth of our salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ was disproven by Peter’s chickenhearted failure to live by his own preaching at Antioch.

On a related note, the idea that the efficacy of the Sacraments is based on the holiness of the priest or bishop who administers them is a heresy known as Donatism.  Be thankful for this.  We can go to Mass or to Confession and not have to inquire on the state of the priest’s soul.

The New York Times has struck again with another story in which they are claiming inaction on the part of the Church against a priest who was sexually abusing minors.  I won’t go into much depth here, but there is more to the story than they tell us (surprise, NOT!).  Good summaries of the real story can be found here and here on Jimmy Akin’s blog for the National Catholic Register.  If you’d rather get some perspective from someone who writes fairly but isn’t necessarily going to outright defend the Church, try this article from John Allen in the National Catholic Reporter.

While all of this, as well as the stories from Europe, were coming out, I read this article from Phil Lawler.  In it, he explains how sexual abuse is a problem in society as a whole, not just the Church.  He is very careful to explain that he understands, as I do, that this does not mean that we should excuse those in authority in the Church for their actions.  The Church must uphold and be held to a higher standard than secular society.  In fact, I would argue that the problem is not that the Church has become worse than secular society but that the Church and her institutions have largely become secularized and then experienced the attending problems.

So, if the fact that sexual abuse and its cover-up is a societal problem doesn’t excuse the Church, what does it mean?  Well, it means a couple of things . . .

First, we have evidence that our media is targetting the Church, whether out of animosity or the desire to sell stories.  After all, if the media’s real interest were sexual abuse, they’d be taking a lot of other people to task for sexual abuse cover-up.  Even the New York Times story mentioned that local law enforcement was aware of the case but did not prosecute.  Amidst calls for Pope Benedict’s resignation, why has there not been a call for an investigation of the law enforcement offices in Wisconsin?

Second, it means that there is nothing inherit in the structure or discipline of the Church that is causing the problem.  The usual gang has used this as yet another excuse to promote their pet agendas:  married priests, women priests, changing the Church’s teaching on sexuality, etc.  However, if the same problem is happening in wider society, it’s hard to make a case that the problem is caused by anything particular to the Church. 

The problem of sexual abuse is, in my opinion, nothing but a symptom of the real problem plaguing the Church – secularization.  This is seen in many of the more horizontal liturgies that we see in parishes today.  It shows in Catholic institutions like hospitals and universities that are now difficult to distinguish from their secular counterparts.  It shows in a Church who is afraid to teach her doctrine.  It shows in orders of nuns that have become little more than social workers (hence the apostolic visitation).  Pope Benedict XVI is doing all he can to try to combat these trends.  While people in the media call for his resignation, I see him as the man whom the Church needs most.

I just received a link to this speech by Archbishop Charles Chaput.  It was given at, of all places, Houston Baptist University.  In it, he talks about how John F. Kennedy’s Houston speech caused major problems for the role of Christians in public life.  I learned quite a bit about the historical background of the use of the phrase “separation of church and state” which appears nowhere in the U.S. Constitution.

I wouldn’t limit the applicability of what he said to politics.  During my first year in pharmacy school, a well-known professor of one of our classes stated that they should have vending machines for birth control in every school.  He said that “personally, I’m against it.”  He went on to say that our “professional duty” comes before our “personal beliefs.”

Even today, you hear people often debating on whether one may do or not do something on the basis of “personal beliefs.”  It’s as if they’ve forgotten that there might really be a God who will one day judge them, or they have decided that such a concern is of no consequence.  Whether such is true has little to do with one’s “personal beliefs.” Here’s a quote on this from Archbishop Chaput:

Too many Catholics confuse their personal opinions with a real Christian conscience.  Too many live their faith as if it were a private idiosyncrasy – the kind that they’ll never allow to become a public nuisance.  And too many just don’t really believe.  Maybe it’s different in Protestant circles.  But I hope you’ll forgive me if I say, “I doubt it.”

“Too many just don’t really believe.”  I can never know for sure what is in someone’s heart.  However, the actions and attitudes I’ve seen displayed on the part of many people show so little concern for God. I have talked to many people in my life who seem quite satisfied to believe that neither they nor anyone else knows anything about God. Either there is a God, or there isn’t.  God cannot exist and not exist at the same time.  Either he has revealed himself or not.  This has eternal significance, so take time to find these things out.

Archbishop Chaput gives us an answer that is both simple but yet very difficult in today’s world.  We must all have, first and foremost, “a zeal for Jesus Christ and his Church.”  The Archbishop himself states that he is a Catholic Christian first and then an American citizen.  We most certainly must love our country, but we are citizens of Heaven first.