RBWords

     The current turmoil in the Catholic church in America in regard to the role of our bishops in dealing with sexual abuse by priests and bishops is painful and causing a great loss of confidence in the church itself.  It is one thing to condemn the individual failings of our pastors, but the underlying causes are now exposed and the problem is systemic.  One term for it is "clericalism," which Pope Francis has repeatedly attacked and condemned.  Clericalism turns a worldwide community of faith into a socio-political system that allows for the "jealousy and self-ambition" mentioned in the Letter of James, quoted above.  All institutions are vulnerable to this, but when it is our church, we are dealing with something that Jesus himself meant to create.  The problem existed among his own immediate disciples.  The gospel scripture from the Gospel According to Mark for this Sunday shows a confrontation when Jesus asks them, "What were you arguing about on the way?  But they remained silent.  They had been discussing among themselves on the way who was the greatest."

     Clericalism is a disease that comes from a distorted idea of power.  When clergy and bishops consider themselves to be "different" from laity in the way the church is governed, a closed system develops that can allow for the abuses that have come to light.  The sad thing is that it has taken a secular legal power to expose a terrible ecclesiastical power problem here and elsewhere.  The resources of canonical procedure have been weak or useless because those who know them are the ones who control the governance.  The cleanup is going to take time, but not before a lot more pain and loss of trust occur.  Courageous bishops, priests and laity must come together and root out any systemic abuses of power, whether personal or structural so that our church can be faithful to its Lord.

     The perspective of history helps a little.  The church has survived persecutions of all kinds.  In the last five hundred years, the Reformation, the French revolution, Communism, Nazism, secularism, and now clerical abuse have all created great sadness and destruction, but the church has survived.  We'll get through this with the help of the Holy Spirit working in the hearts of courageous faithful Christians.  AMEN