Wednesday, before I preached from our series in Jude, I discussed the recent revelations of abuse and corruption within the Catholic church (both in Pennsylvania, and also the serious revelations regarding Cardinal McCarrick). I had three thoughts:
1. The details are horrifying.
Repeated abuse. Some of the events are staggering in their wickedness. 300 priests, over 1000 victims, just in the greater part of non-Philly Pennsylvania, and those are only the ones that are known about. And the corruption of seminaries that McCarrick worked with – allegedly, seminarians and priests with homosexual tendencies were deliberately seduced so that they could be counted on not to expose sin elsewhere, lest their own be revealed – is reprehensible.
There’s a significant battle amongst different categories of catholics, too. Some conservative catholics believe that liberal bishops and cardinals have been protected by sympathetic media and superiors due to their political views. Many believe that the pope’s recent declaration on the death penalty was deliberately intended to deflect from the scandal.
*Note for the blog: It’s REALLY ugly. I have family in a very passionate, very conservative, proudly catholic parish in Ann Arbor and things are extremely intense. The most faithful, loyal, dedicated catholic I’ve ever met just posted on his priest’s wall demanding that the priest address the scandal on Sunday and discuss what their diocese in Lansing is doing about it. This is the priest that performed his wedding and has been at that parish for decades.
2. This is a good witnessing opportunity if used wisely.
Many catholics are disgusted and disaffected by this. In my opinion it’s not wise to attack them or spend a lot of attacking the catholic institution–the institution is doing that itself. We can, however, use Bible truth (one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus!) to show them what they are missing and what the corrupt traditions of man have kept from them. Those of us who know and work with catholics, particularly casual “from birth” ones, may find opportunities for conversation if done carefully.
See my note above: It can easily be mishandled, be gracious and use the Scriptures. There’s no place for pride in ourselves or our own ways here.
3. We must be humble and keep our own house in order.
In 2002 when scandal first brewed, many of us smugly wrote it off as an issue with catholics because they were catholics. But in the 16 years since we’ve seen far too much wicked sin in our own camp to think that we’re immune now.
We must teach our children and protect them. I don’t have to get into a lot of detail to warn my kids that they shouldn’t be touched inappropriately, and I tell them that if anyone DOES do something like that, or tells them not to tell me… to tell me. And I want the other kids in my church to do that, too.
We report what we hear. Our church has a bus ministry, and we have had to report abuse allegations in the past. It’s not easy, but it’s not my job to evaluate what is “credible” in that sense. Nor should our reporting be limited to things heard about people outside; if there is something alleged about a person in the church, no matter how trusted, it must be reported.
We have strong standards and we’re not afraid to talk about them. No child alone with an adult that is not their parent, a man never driving a woman (or teen girl or whatever) in a car alone, etc. We protect ourselves and the people we minister to. Perhaps that makes things a bit more difficult sometimes, but it’s worth it.
And if we were to hear something, we deal with it (typically by reporting to legal authorities). We don’t minimize it, cover it up, ignore it. As preachers of the Gospel we are in the business of truth, and truth is never in opposition to our cause. If it appears that our cause will be “damaged” by revelation of truth, our cause is on the wrong foundation. Nobody is bigger than the cause, than truth, than Christ.
Note:
If there’s one lesson I’ve taken from observing scandals in churches of many denominations and in public institutions and businesses, it is that people have a hard time addressing abuse because it is so shocking, especially when alleged to have been committed by someone they know. So the default response is to just try to pass the buck, avoid being the one dealing with it.
In that way, grievous sin can go unconfronted and people can be seriously wounded. We cannot afford to just cross our fingers and hope that things resolve on their own. We are, rightly, militant about confronting sin. Confronting the sin of abuse is simply a proper application of our existing principles.
Notes from the North 