You know the problem. A tiny number of child molesters successfully pretended to be priests in order to gain access to children. Greater numbers, and percentages, of child molesters pretended to be coaches, Protestant clergy, band directors, scoutmasters, and, most of all, teachers.
Twenty thousand allegations of molestation occurred over sixty years. Fortunately, those molested were left alive with futures, not like the twenty thousand children killed each and every week by abortionists. Ignoring the far, far greater sin to focus on the lesser is, itself, a sin.
Did anything good come from the scandals? Yes. State-run media focused its pseudo-outrage almost exclusively on The Church while far more polluted institutions, and abortionists, got a free pass. “Look over here!” they said, like carnival shills running a shell game.
The Church has diligently expelled the pretend-priests. Other groups have not been as respectable in their efforts.
According to Billy Graham’s grandson, who writes on the subject, Protestants have an even worse problem with ministers who molest. Protestants have no central control with the authority to expel them. Protestant molesters, when caught, easily “hop” to another group or denomination of innocents. If their sins become known, they often go, or are sent, into “mission work” where they may abuse endlessly the children of the poor.
Did anything good come from the scandals?
Catholic Fundamentalism takes to heart the passage: “All things work together for good.” and is compelled to answer “Yes.”
Many used the scandals as an excuse to escape Catholic rules that interfered with what they wanted to do. Tens of millions of Catholics had been drawn into illicit marriages they were too cheap and lazy to regularize through annulment. Others were in even more ephemeral relationships that kept them from receiving the Sacraments. Both the vain and lazy wanted an excuse to “do my own thing”.
“Aha!”, such sinners said as scandals surfaced. “I can stop feeling guilty about my sins because the sins of The Church are much worse. How can The Church say that anything I do is wrong?”
The self-righteous would announce frequently, the corners of their mouths turned down to emphasize the deep seriousness of their thinking: “I could no longer be a Catholic. The scandals were more than I could bear.” Such well-rehearsed announcements were usually made alongside paramours who also nodded in agreement while trying to look wise.
They left The Church, bragging about their moral superiority to Catholicism even as they sank into sin. They compounded their sin by bearing false witness, refusing to admit that it was not real priests, but pretenders living a lie, wolves in in sheep’s clothing, who hurt so many children and families.
Once the self-righteous were gone, priests were spared the painful task of explaining to those millions who chose disobedience why they could not receive Communion. Those many millions magically had, astonishingly, removed themselves from The Church. By the tens of millions!
“Dear Lord!” Catholic Fundamentalists exclaim in humble astonishment as they recognize the enormity and power of God. “You used the sins of a few to automate the weeding of the garden!”
And, it is true. Miraculously, incredibly, amazingly, millions of weeds pulled themselves up by their own roots, marched right over, and threw themselves onto the burn pile. It is one of the most amazing things since Fatima!
At Judgment, the molesters’ punishment will be just recompense to those they hurt. In the meantime, The Church is cleansed of the whining, the self-righteous, the quibblers, and the disobedient.
Most of us know people who left The Church for the burn pile. We may want to share this perspective with them. They may have time to straighten up and fly right. Well, the quibblers may not.
