Of course there are cardinals who live a high life. Of course there are clerics who fail to keep their vow of celibacy. Of course there are men of ambition, wheeler dealers, shysters, gangsters, frauds and cowards. Remember the apostles. They weren\u2019t a perfect collection of treasures to begin with.<\/p>\n
All of us are a work in progress and perfection is the work of a lifetime.<\/p>\n
This doesn\u2019t mean that we give everyone a pass. We\u2019re not to shrug and dismiss the corruption with a wave of the hand. Instead we should always be on the watch and be wise.<\/p>\n
Trust, but verify. Believe the best and expect the worst.<\/p>\n
Most of all, we should not be too dismayed by the failure of our prelates and the flaws of our priests. Don\u2019t be surprised to learn about the human failings of church leaders, but once you are over it turn your mind to all the good priests you have known. Remember all the ones who did\u00a0not\u00a0<\/em>get caught with their pants down or with their hand in the collection plate. Remember all the ones who worked long and hard, were patient, kind and true pastors. Remember all the ones who said Mass with reverence and love, baptized your babies, taught your children buried your dead and walked with you on the path to heaven.<\/p>\n In my experience there are more good ones than bad ones, and usually the people who want to focus on the bad behavior of priests and the hypocrisy of Vatican officials are doing so because it is easier to focus on their hypocrisy, sin and corruption than on their own.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Of course there are cardinals who live a high life. Of course there are clerics who fail to keep their vow of celibacy. Of course there are men of ambition, wheeler dealers, shysters, gangsters, frauds and cowards. Remember the apostles. They weren\u2019t a perfect collection of treasures to begin with. All of us are a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":557,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-20509","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n