The church gave up its credibility for Lent.
—Maureen Dowd, Should There Be an Inquisition for the Pope?
Thank you, Maureen Dowd, for your outrage and for pounding this home. I am so tired of Catholics putting themselves in the position of “discriminated against” because it’s only “a few” priests and “other religions” do it and just aren’t picked on as much.
Get a grip. The people have the power here and refuse to use it. Demand change. Stop writing checks to this corrupt, arrogant institution. This kind of leadership is not moral, religious, spiritual, Christ-like or legal.
I’m pretty confident your God will understand.
And here I’ve been thinking their heads have been somewhere else all along…
:).
I know and respect too many good people who happen to be Catholic. That’s why I don’t understand the denial. I respect their allegiance to the doctrine, just don’t understand why they don’t demand excellence and morality from their leadership.
The problem starts with the way the Pope and priests are put on a pedestal. Catholics are instructed to essentially treat them like human Gods (which is, needless to say, ironic and hypocritical given the rest of the teachings of the Church). So, many Catholics, especially older Catholics for whom the teachings are more ingrained, simply follow the leader (the Pope and other priests) who look the other way at abuses. Fighting anything done by the Pope or priests is considered heretical. Until the entire belief system that the Pope and priests are special is changed, I don’t see how this problem can be truly solved.
Allowing abuses to happen is beyond despicable, and many, many people agree that it’s despicable. However, the people angered by it tend to leave the Church rather than fight to change the Church. (Myself included, though for me, as I imagine for others as well, the problem goes beyond this issue alone.)
So true, Erin. Hadn’t thought of it quite that way.
Since I moved on from Catholicism a while ago, I’m not sure why this stuff still gets under my skin like this. Kind of breaks my heart.