Along with the pain and the dysfunction of our Federal Government and the current shut down of governmental services, there is the added pain of continued reports of clergy abuse and cover up from those in the archdiocesan hierarchy. For both those whom we serve, and for those of us in active ministry, these reports are like an unexpected blow to the stomach, knocking the air out of us leaving us confused, bitter, angry, betrayed and dumbfounded.
THE EASY ROUTE
The easiest thing for us to do would be to chuck the whole Catholic Church and quit participating in church altogether. We can shake our fists and cast curses at Pope Francis, Archbishop John Nienstedt, Fr Peter Laird, and whomever else we would like to lump in with them. We can close our money purse and quit contributing to the Archdiocese and our local church ... that would certainly get their attention (it has in the past). We can jump to another denomination, though we will find that whatever denomination it may be, it will have the same flaws and issues that drove us out of Catholicism. We can trash Christianity altogether and find some other world religious experience, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism, something new age like Eckankar, but then, we will probably be disappointed there, too. We can become agnostics and atheists stay home on Sundays and watch our favorite sport teams fail us, too, until we die old, bitter, and angry. Or we can live in a state of denial, and pretend this never happens and continue life holding our hands over our eyes, our ears, and our mouths. That's not very productive either, is it?
THE HARD ROUTE
1. The hardest thing to do is to acknowledge that the Church as a human institution is anything but a sinless human organization. For a long time, during the Counter Reformation, the institutional Church held itself up as the "Perfect Society." However, a cursory glance at Church history will reveal that is was never perfect and for that matter, it never has been perfect. One of the most brilliant statements that came out of Vatican II was that in the reformation of the Rite of Reconciliation (Confession), it was written that the Church as a human institution is sinful and in constant need of conversion. The only part of the Church that is without sin is Jesus Christ.
Jesus challenged those publically accusing the woman caught in adultery to only pick up a rock to stone her if they, themselves, were without sin. I, myself, wouldn't have even begun to stoop down to pick up a rock. I don't know about you, but I am sinner. I have done things in the past for which I am ashamed, things I continue to regret to this day. Pope Francis I is the first to admit that he is a sinner. The Pope, the Archbishop, you, me, US are all in need of conversion. We all are in need of metanoia, the daily need to work on conversion in our lives. While we hold up to a higher standard our religious leaders, they are not without sin. They make poor choices and dumb decisions ... just like you and me. What is different is that when they do make poor choices and decisions, the impact of those poor decisions can be greater and do more damage. Yet, they in themselves are not THE CHURCH, but a part of THE CHURCH, just like you and me.
2. As THE CHURCH, it is imperative that there begins a dialogue that is no longer from the top down, but a dialogue with everyone on the same level, clergy, religious and laity alike. In graduate school at the seminary we all talked about the Church being in concentric circles. That was all well and fine, but the reality remained that the Church then as it is now is a hierarchical pyramid, with the Pope on top and the rest of us on the bottom rung. Let us begin to make this Church a concentric circle by really beginning to listen to one another. It is crucial that the hierarchy begin to listen to the sensum fidelium, the faithful to whom they are shepherds. It is equally crucial that the laity begin to listen openly to what the hierarchy has to say. And, collectively, we all need to silence the acrimony on all sides so that we are able to listen to the guidance of the Holy Spirit in our midst. In the recent past, there have been certain subjects that we have been forbidden to talk about. These certain topics are like enormous elephants in the room and they will not go away until we can finally come to a mutual understanding of them. In spite of edicts from on high forbidding talking about them, no edict, no ignoring them, or dismissing them will make these subjects go away. Until we began to speak openly with one another, without recrimination, without threat of excommunication or eternal damnation, these subjects will be left there to fester and infect future generations.
3. Last, but not least, the time for cursing is over. It is time to ask for God's blessing. Those who have committed criminal acts must be held accountable, they must make restitution for the damage they have caused to others. However, if we dare call ourselves disciples of Jesus Christ we must be able to pray for and bless those who harm us, as Jesus did from the cross for those who put him there. We must ask God to bless and heal those lives broken from clergy abuse. We must ask God to bless and heal those who have been perpetrators of abuse.
The time for peace, dialogue, humility, and blessing is now.
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