A plague of bad priests

Consistent readers of this blog will know that I am a Catholic, and an old-fashioned, traditional Catholic at that. In my opinion the Church has lost Her way. Ever since Vatican II, She has strayed ever farther, in teaching and in practice, from the traditional Faith that was handed down to us, through the Apostles, by Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself.

Those who know me must be wondering when I am going to say something about the child abuse, sexual deviance and other scandals which have swept through the Church in North America, and now Europe, particularly Eire. I can be silent no longer.

Catholics who are trying to keep the Faith are suffering every day the pain of enduring widespread doctrinal and moral corruption in the Church. The crisis of faith and morals now afflicts the Church in virtually every nation, at least in the so-called developed world.

Even though many good priests continue to honour their vows, we read and hear, almost every day, reports of priestly scandals which undermine confidence in the integrity of the priesthood, not to mention the hierarchy of the Church which has looked the other way or even covered up the misdeeds and crimes of many bad priests and bishops.

In North America alone the incidents of sexual abuse of children and women by clerics cannot even be counted. The criminal and civil dockets of North American tribunals contain many claims that clerics either committed, failed to prevent or covered up sexual abuse of men, women and, worst of all, children.

Even in the Church in Africa and India is afflicted by priestly scandal. I am ashamed to read recent reports of the sexual abuse and exploitation, even rape of nuns, by certain priests in those places. We European Christians went to the rest of the world to preach Christian standards of morality, but what do they learn from us now.

The Vatican acknowledges the problem. From time to time there is handwringing, breast-beating and profuse apologies, which are taking on the appearance of rote formulae which are recited whenever another incident comes to light.

Yet the Vatican is doing precious little to punish the abusers or clean out the nest of homosexual and paedophile vipers inside the Church. The faithful do not see very many excommunications of these predatory clerics, who disgrace not only themselves but their innocent and holy brothers in the priesthood, while destroying the Church’s credibility in the eyes of the public. Punishment is left to the secular courts.

Of course God will judge these evildoers, at the End. See St. Matthew 18:6-7. But the faithful and the world at large need to see something concrete done, and done now.