RBWords - Volume 30 - Number 8: August 2017
Something to Think About
RBWORDS - VOLUME 30 - NUMBER 8 - AUGUST 2018
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SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT -
The current turmoil engulfing our Church in this country as a result of the revelations of sexual misconduct on the part of former cardinal McCarrick and the very painful report of a Pennsylvania grand jury investigation into the cover up of sexually abusive priests by bishops of six Pennsylvania dioceses gives us all something to think about and pray about. Believe me when I say it is painful to me to even think about it and read something more coming out every day in the media. The memo by a retired curial Archbishop and former Vatican nuncio in the USA just added fuel to the fire, even if it seemed to say as much about the writer as it did about the problems he denounced. It's all a painful mess calling for a painful clean-up.
When the American bishops, back in the 1990's, gathered to confront the growing crisis of sexual abuse by clergy, they appeared to remove themselves from responsibility for it, leaving priests to their own responsibility. This created a great deal of resentment. Now, the focus is on the bishops who may have failed to report abusive clergy and may have kept some in ministry. There are calls now for an all-lay board of review to look at the whole state of the clergy and at the seminary system and the way in which bishops are chosen. Each day brings another proposal!
A knowledge of history reminds us that crises like this one are not new, even if not (thank God), every day things. The state of the episcopacy and clergy at the time of the Reformation in the 16th century was pretty awful. One of the powerful tools of the reform was the invention of the printing press around that time. So, now the incredible speed of the internet and social media are putting pressure on the church to clean up its act and do it soon. "Soon" is not a word some church authorities like to hear! We are all in this together and we need to let our clergy (including yours truly) and bishops know that this is OUR church and we all need to participate in getting this mess cleaned up. The Holy Spirit is going to be working overtime! IT'S SOMETHING TO THINK AND PRAY ABOUT
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It Has Been Said
IT HAS BEEN SAID: "Though they differ essentially and not only in degree, the common priesthood of the faithful and the ministerial or hierarchical priesthood are none the less interrelated; each in its own way shares in the one priesthood of Christ."
from the DOGMATIC CONSTITUTION ON THE CHURCH [Lumen Gentium} by the Second Vatican Council
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