Pope’s Priest Doesn’t Get It

The Pope’s priest gave a sermon recently comparing the criticism the Roman Catholic Church is receiving for its child abuse to anti-Semitism. His talk showed just how out of touch the Church is. Certainly the Catholic-haters and Christian-bashers are having a field day, but that doesn’t mean all the criticism is unjustified.

Anti-Semitism is pure prejudice based on the person’s religion and/or ethnicity. The criticism of the Catholic Church is based on bad behavior. There’s a big difference. Sadly, the criticism of the church is justified, although I think the Pope may be catching more heat than he deserves. He truly may not have known what his underlings were doing, although we’ll probably never know for sure.

What’s sad, especially about the cover up and moving pedophile priests from one parish to another, is that the Church, of all institutions, should be honest in its dealings. Even the Church may have its bad apples, but the bishops should have been forthright and firm in handling such problems, especially when children are the victims.

One of the rules that may have resulted in having pedophile priests is the ridiculous and unbiblical requirement for priestly celibacy, which I’ve discussed in earlier posts. Celibacy should be optional, not mandatory. It would solve a lot of problems, including the priest shortage. Let’s hope that things change in the Catholic Church for the better.

One of the sad results of this whole mess is that some people will leave the Catholic Church in disgust, but I suspect most of them won’t join a Protestant church. So those disillusioned people won’t be spiritually fed, will drift away from any relationship with God, and may be harboring bitterness and resentment against God, Christianity, and the church universal. All because the Church couldn’t police itself.

One thing I’m thankful for, and that is that I was never molested by a priest in my 4 years as an altar boy and my 12 years in parochial school. God protected me from such a traumatic experience, and I believe God led me out of the Catholic Church so I could eventually serve him as a minister of the Gospel. I thought I was rebelling when I dropped out of the Church, but it was all part of God’s plan. Little did I know back then.