But this is simply my hope and
invitation to Anti-Catholics (who, every now and then, frequently
demonized the Catholic church for sex scandals, cover-ups, etc.) of how we are to
logically ponder everything into perspective whenever these Christian
sex scandals (Protestant or Catholic) arise in the news.
What then do we as Christians make of this monstrosity? My own two cents is:
1. No matter what institution or organization we are in, as long as it is managed, governed, or run by Human Beings, sinfulness and bad apples always abound until the end of time. This is the reality of us men and women in a fallen world. This is not unique only to Catholics. Although I certainly do not wish any scandals to happen to any denomination, I guarantee your local pastor and church are not immune to one as well. We can only pray for our pastoral leaders that there are no skeletons and demons hidden in their closets. With that said, it doesn't mean it's an excuse, I am not condoning their atrocity nor am I minimizing their sinful acts especially the unimaginable pain and suffering their victims are going through. They indeed rightfully need to be punished for the crimes they committed no matter how high-ranking they are in the church. But at the same time, (to quote Matthew Kelly) there is no perfect church. And if you see one and you join in it, it won't be perfect anymore.
2. The Church's teachings are not defined by the character of the priests, pastors, popes, theologians or apologists nor their iniquities. Christian faith is defined by the unchanging truths of God in His Written (Bible) and Oral (Apostles' Tradition) teachings, deposits of faith passed down over 2,000 yrs. So the failures of our leaders (even lousy sermons or boring music) ought not to be our measuring stick of leaving or changing churches, but what was and is the one and only church Christ established not just with a partial but with the fullness of truth in it. For a seeker, they have to delve down and take an understanding of church history.
3. We know the cliche' some may retort that "I only go straight to Jesus in the Bible and not to any man nor man-made traditions" or something to this effect. This is a given, and it's common sense. We only have one triune God. But at the same time, God gave us human instrumentality, those who were and are before us (from Abraham, Moses to Sts Peter and Paul, St Augustine to Pope John Paul II, CS Lewis to Billy Graham, your local mentor, pastor or priest, even mom and dad) whom the Holy Spirit directly or indirectly used to introduce Christ to us and inspire us with ideas, knowledge & wisdom in our spiritual journey by their works, sermons or examples. We thereby continue to benefit from time to time from holy pastoral men and women to guide us in understanding God's word, to institute the sacraments, and not left us to our own devices. For every scoundrel in church, there are 100 more saints in this world, the latter are whom we need to look up to and never give up on. We need to include and keep them in our daily prayers more than ever, instead of quickly ostracizing them if they show some slack while we sit in our comfy chair and rant and virtue-signal at them in our social media posts all day (e.g., Internet-Only Christians). Pastors and priests' jobs are not a walk in the park.
4. I noticed this news is actually from a few months ago but surprisingly I just knew about this recently. It is disheartening to hear nevertheless. If this is a Catholic priest or clergy, this would be headline news all over the place both in secular and Christian spheres, it would be in the mainstream media airwaves and articles over and over again for many months and years. The fact that people love to target Catholics far more often than any other Christian institution--aside from the expectation they ought to be models of holiness--is because Catholics are the first and largest Christian community in the world established by Christ Himself circa 33AD; the largest forces of good on earth for centuries (e.g., compiled the Bible, started the first hospitals and universities, pioneers in judicial laws, science, the sanctity of life, etc.) and I always say that if Satan wants to attack Christianity, he wastes no time but goes straight to the jugular, straight to the heart of Christ's Church, straight to Christ's shepherds.
And so these are just something to chew on before thinking of casting the first stone and calling the Catholic church names like Anti-Christ, false prophets, idol-worshipers, spiritual perverts, pedophiles, pagans, "not-a-Christian", etc. We are all brothers and sisters in Christ, first. To bear false witness is a sin in the 10 commandments. And one should not be cocky or arrogant to say it won't happen to me or my pastor or my "Bible-only" church as long I am sticking to the Bible. It is easy for us to know (and preach) the faith, but living the faith is another story. Without God's grace for the journey, so are we. God bless.
"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you." (Philippians. 4:8-9)
1. No matter what institution or organization we are in, as long as it is managed, governed, or run by Human Beings, sinfulness and bad apples always abound until the end of time. This is the reality of us men and women in a fallen world. This is not unique only to Catholics. Although I certainly do not wish any scandals to happen to any denomination, I guarantee your local pastor and church are not immune to one as well. We can only pray for our pastoral leaders that there are no skeletons and demons hidden in their closets. With that said, it doesn't mean it's an excuse, I am not condoning their atrocity nor am I minimizing their sinful acts especially the unimaginable pain and suffering their victims are going through. They indeed rightfully need to be punished for the crimes they committed no matter how high-ranking they are in the church. But at the same time, (to quote Matthew Kelly) there is no perfect church. And if you see one and you join in it, it won't be perfect anymore.
2. The Church's teachings are not defined by the character of the priests, pastors, popes, theologians or apologists nor their iniquities. Christian faith is defined by the unchanging truths of God in His Written (Bible) and Oral (Apostles' Tradition) teachings, deposits of faith passed down over 2,000 yrs. So the failures of our leaders (even lousy sermons or boring music) ought not to be our measuring stick of leaving or changing churches, but what was and is the one and only church Christ established not just with a partial but with the fullness of truth in it. For a seeker, they have to delve down and take an understanding of church history.
3. We know the cliche' some may retort that "I only go straight to Jesus in the Bible and not to any man nor man-made traditions" or something to this effect. This is a given, and it's common sense. We only have one triune God. But at the same time, God gave us human instrumentality, those who were and are before us (from Abraham, Moses to Sts Peter and Paul, St Augustine to Pope John Paul II, CS Lewis to Billy Graham, your local mentor, pastor or priest, even mom and dad) whom the Holy Spirit directly or indirectly used to introduce Christ to us and inspire us with ideas, knowledge & wisdom in our spiritual journey by their works, sermons or examples. We thereby continue to benefit from time to time from holy pastoral men and women to guide us in understanding God's word, to institute the sacraments, and not left us to our own devices. For every scoundrel in church, there are 100 more saints in this world, the latter are whom we need to look up to and never give up on. We need to include and keep them in our daily prayers more than ever, instead of quickly ostracizing them if they show some slack while we sit in our comfy chair and rant and virtue-signal at them in our social media posts all day (e.g., Internet-Only Christians). Pastors and priests' jobs are not a walk in the park.
4. I noticed this news is actually from a few months ago but surprisingly I just knew about this recently. It is disheartening to hear nevertheless. If this is a Catholic priest or clergy, this would be headline news all over the place both in secular and Christian spheres, it would be in the mainstream media airwaves and articles over and over again for many months and years. The fact that people love to target Catholics far more often than any other Christian institution--aside from the expectation they ought to be models of holiness--is because Catholics are the first and largest Christian community in the world established by Christ Himself circa 33AD; the largest forces of good on earth for centuries (e.g., compiled the Bible, started the first hospitals and universities, pioneers in judicial laws, science, the sanctity of life, etc.) and I always say that if Satan wants to attack Christianity, he wastes no time but goes straight to the jugular, straight to the heart of Christ's Church, straight to Christ's shepherds.
And so these are just something to chew on before thinking of casting the first stone and calling the Catholic church names like Anti-Christ, false prophets, idol-worshipers, spiritual perverts, pedophiles, pagans, "not-a-Christian", etc. We are all brothers and sisters in Christ, first. To bear false witness is a sin in the 10 commandments. And one should not be cocky or arrogant to say it won't happen to me or my pastor or my "Bible-only" church as long I am sticking to the Bible. It is easy for us to know (and preach) the faith, but living the faith is another story. Without God's grace for the journey, so are we. God bless.
"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you." (Philippians. 4:8-9)
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