{"id":4287,"date":"2015-06-09T08:35:05","date_gmt":"2015-06-09T13:35:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/crywoof\/?p=4287"},"modified":"2015-06-09T08:35:05","modified_gmt":"2015-06-09T13:35:05","slug":"the-evil-catholic-hierarchy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/crywoof\/2015\/06\/the-evil-catholic-hierarchy\/","title":{"rendered":"The Evil Catholic Hierarchy?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

A commenter on my post about why I remain Catholic<\/a> asked,<\/p>\n

Have you considered the possibility that you can still believe what the Catholic Church teaches but leave the organization itself in protest against its history of protecting abusers?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I responded:<\/p>\n

The Church is the Body of Christ. Its members are all sinners, and sometimes they do horrible things. But I will not willingly cut myself off from it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

To amplify: I believe what the Church teaches about itself.\u00a0 It is not simply a human organization.\u00a0 Rather, it is the Church founded by Christ Himself to be His body in this world, through which His revelation is passed down and through which His sacraments are given to us.\u00a0 Those sacraments are the primary means of grace by which we grow closer to God and come in time to eternal life. Christ is the head of this Church; the Holy Spirit is its soul.\u00a0 Individual Catholics, from the popes on down to the lay-folk in the pews, are all members of this body, and all sinners.<\/p>\n

Jesus Christ is my life.\u00a0 If I cut myself off from His body, I cut myself off from Him.\u00a0 If I were to continue to believe what the Church teaches but leave the Church, I would precisely and exactly be cutting myself off from Him.\u00a0 This I will not do.<\/p>\n

My interlocutor (and isn\u2019t that a lovely word?) responded,<\/p>\n

And what if it was not just the members of the church but its leadership? What if, by remaining a member, you were condoning their criminal actions?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Crucified<\/a> First of all, in my terms the popes and the college of bishops are<\/i> members of the Church.\u00a0 I was including them in everything I said.<\/p>\n

Second, I do not condone criminal actions by any member of the Church.\u00a0 This is not the place to go into the history of the abuse scandals; suffice it to say that it\u2019s wrong and that protecting abusers is wrong.<\/p>\n

But seriously: to focus on the abuse scandal as the prime evil perpetrated by members of the Catholic Church is to be ignorant of history.\u00a0 Do a little studying, and you can find far bigger sticks to beat us with.\u00a0 There are have been sinners in the Church hierarchy from the earliest days down to the present.\u00a0 We\u2019re all sinners; some of us are going to be great and egregious sinners, and some of those are going to be in places they shouldn\u2019t be.\u00a0 Most of us (and not just Christians) abuse God\u2019s patience most profligately (have you ever noticed how seldom bolts of lightning turn blasphemers into greasy spots on the pavement?).\u00a0 Some of the popes have been real pieces of work; papal infallibility by no means implies papal holiness.\u00a0 (One pope was involved in a plot to poison his predecessor, IIRC.)\u00a0 When we can, we honor those who hold office in the Church; when we can\u2019t, we continue to honor the office.<\/p>\n

But the Church isn\u2019t about them; it\u2019s about Christ.\u00a0 It isn\u2019t about us, either; it\u2019s about Christ who, in His mercy, works with the materials He has to hand.<\/p>\n

All that said: while the members of the Church\u2019s hierarchy are sinful men (like me), I don\u2019t buy that the Church is a kind of criminal organization dedicated to preserving its members from prosecution. There are always bad apples, but I think the current basket of apples is in pretty good shape, on average. Constance Hull at \u201cSwimming the Depths\u201d has a related post about how bad\u2014and good!\u2014the Church is<\/a>.<\/p>\n

____
\nphoto credit: Crucified Jesus<\/a> via photopin<\/a> (license)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A commenter on my post about why I remain Catholic asked, Have you considered the possibility that you can still believe what the Catholic Church teaches but leave the organization itself in protest against its history of protecting abusers? I responded: The Church is the Body of Christ. 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