The Catholic Church: Past, Present and Future

HIS:

This week brought us to Our Lady of Lourdes parish in Bethesda, MD, but I want to devote my time this week to thoughts that have been swirling through my head in light of the news that came out of Pennsylvania at the beginning of last week.

I never thought for one minute that the church’s sex scandal was in its rearview mirror, especially given recent revelations that Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, former Archbishop of Washington had been accused of sexual misconduct while bishop overseeing the Newark NJ Archdiocese.  This notwithstanding, I was shocked and appalled when I heard about the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s report.  As a life long Catholic and someone who implicitly respects authority, these recent revelations have effected me very deeply.  I believe the church has betrayed us.  At least for me It will take a long time to trust the leadership of the church again.  I believe the church is going to have to do some soul searching (perhaps a Vatican Council III) and will need to examine some of its bedrock issues head on or risk losing more of its flock.  I read that the Catholic Church is losing more of its members than any other faith.  This Roamin’ Catholic has seen far too many empty pews for the church to ignore what is going on.  I believe the Vatican needs to examine the issue of abortion, the way it treats gay people, women as clergy and married priests.  I have seen the church moving further to the right (at least in the Washington area) in many aspects which is quite ironic given how liberal Pope Francis’ teachings are.  As I read this, I find it shocking that I am the one who just typed those words.  These musings are a radical departure of my previous thought process on these topics.

The acts these priests have been accused of and in some instances convicted of are reprehensible.  Perhaps even more unforgivable was the complicit nature in which the leaders of the church acted in not swiftly removing these predators from ministry and turning them over for thorough investigation by the authorities.  I have read some of the counter explanations provided by hard core supporters of the church that the numbers are not as big as the Pennsylvania report denotes and the press is reporting.  That may be, but even one instance of abuse and any subsequent cover-up by the church hierarchy is too many.  As a life long Catholic, I have tried many times to justify this in my mind, to support the church I grew up with and know.  I now know this is naïve and (ironically) not being true to my faith.  Each time I have been confronted with these scandals, I always end up in the same place.  Thinking about the victim.  To stick your head in the sand and pretend none of this happened is a third slight to those who were victimized by the ones who they felt they could trust implicitly.  I went to mass yesterday with more than a bit of trepidation.  I don’t know what I was expecting, but things seemed different to me.  I was anxiously waiting to hear if there was any mention of the Pennsylvania report or if an apology was even offered.  I was eagerly waiting to hear the homily hoping that it would contain the apology I was looking for or some act of contrition.  A brief mention came during the intentions and at the end of mass.  The priest who had the mass said they were instructed to say something.  I understand that this must be difficult for a priest who had nothing to do with any of this, but they represent the institution of the Catholic Church and must give that act of contrition.  By the way for those who don’t remember (or never knew) the Act of Contrition prayer said each time in confession begins, Oh my Lord I am heartily sorry for having offended thee…

The tentacles of this scandal stretch far and wide for sure.  Mary was looking at the list of priests implicated from the Erie Diocese and knew many of them as parish priests, teachers (Catholic schooling all the way through College for Mary) and friends of the family.

As horrific as all this is for sure, I think that the press is doing what the press does best; inflating things to sell newspapers, ad space or itself.  I also question the reasoning for why the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office decided to come out with this knowing that there is little that can be done at this point.  Every institution has had its scandals and turn in the spotlight.  I once read that the Catholic Church was the last entity that was safe to attack without fear of reprisal.  I don’t have a problem with reporting the facts of what happened but don’t see any reason to provide salacious details.  In a larger sense this is an extension of what’s going on in society overall and the lack of civility today.

I’m a numbers guy and in order for me to see the scale of something I always like to have a comparison to see how something compares.  How do the events of the last 60 years (in the example of the PA AG report) compare to society as a whole, to other like size institutions, to other religions?  All fair questions and helpful in determining how big of a bomb shell this truly is.  I think this is where the press’ reporting misses the mark.  They have provided no context to the story but it is salacious and sells ad time so who cares.  I think this is the point the Trump crowd makes when they believe their man has not received fair coverage.

In the end, its not what happens to you, its how you deal with what happens to you.  My Church needs to do some soul searching and find out why it went so wrong.  They also need to be more open and welcoming.  If they can be truly be honest with themselves and not just let the denier faction of the church strong arm the reformer faction of the church, they could come out the other side stronger and better for the test they have been subjected to.  Jesus wandered in the desert for 40 years was tempted by the devil and turned him away each time.  The Catholic Church needs to turn the devil away.

HERS:
I'm torn this week. Any Catholic out there knows why. Who am I kidding? You don't have to be Catholic to know why.

Can you be a part of something and be embarrassed by it? Can you be a part of something and question the integrity of it? We've all heard about the Catholic church in the news this week. I am fresh out of answers to my questions. Last week I received a message from an angry recipient of our blog. She seemed to think that we were forcing people to read the blog and were "revictimizing" those who had been victimized. I was saddened by this. This is not our intention. At all. I told Lou that I wanted to throw in the towel. That maybe this was not the time to be writing this blog. I know this made Lou sad. He said this was our journey. We are enjoying the journey and it is making us closer. Why would we give that up? Sigh. Torn.

So no talk this week about the church or the priest.

Right on to the message. The message was good and this week I will hold on to what is good.

The past.
The present.
The future.

Where do you live?

If we live in the past, we are either reliving good times or bad times. A focus on the past looks at what has already happened. We can't change the past. Good or bad, it is done. The best thing we can do is become friends with our past. We are who we are today as a result of our past. Goodness, badness, everything in between. It is a part of us.

Skipping to the future. It's probably good to have an eye to the future. The future allows us to make plans. It gives us something for which to prepare. The future gives us something to look forward to.

Where should you spend most of your time? In the moment called the present. Carpe Diem. Seize the day. Live in the moment. Insert your favorite quote about the present here. It is when we live in the moment or the present that we truly experience God.

I admire those people who can live in the present. They are not bogged down with regret or guilt or all of those other pesky things that face us when we look to the past. They are not plagued by worry that comes with focusing too much on the future. These are the people who can enjoy the present moment. They know that all too quickly the here and now will become the past. So they make the most of the present. They prepare for the future. Even as I type this I am thinking about things that are in the past... things that are in the future, and as a result, the here and now doesn't get my undivided attention.

Sure, we have to make peace with the past and plan for the future but...

Here. And. Now.

Isn't that truly all we have?

I think that is why you have to live in the present to have a real relationship with God... then He gets the attention He deserves.

I also think the Catholic church needs to look at its past and present to determine if it will have a future.

We moved on to Woodmont Grill in Bethesda, which on prior visits was top notch. Let me just say that was not the case on Saturday night. Our meal was just ok and our waitress did not like where she was in the present. I spoke to the manager at the end of the meal who offered to pay for our entire meal. I told her I wasn't looking for her to do that. I told her I just wanted her to know about our experience,