the ignorant pope

The Catholic Church

To live in Chicago is to know many Catholics. Not necessarily dedicated Catholics but certainly those who were raised in the tradition. Also, my best friend is a Catholic youth minister at an area institution of higher learning. Whether it's macabre fascination, anger or disgust, the coverage of the latest revelations in the abuse scandal is almost impossible to ignore. The reaction from people I know is varied. Everyone is upset about the scandal. Some are shamed, some are outraged, some are saddened. I think being raised in a tradition which does not encourage questioning and puts all authority in a centralized church can cause people to become complacent until something so horrifying comes along that the abuse of power can not be ignored.

It's easy to pillory the Catholic church. Let's face it, their track record over the years isn't exactly stellar. The crusades. The inquisition. The rape of Latin America. Silence (at best) regarding the treatment of Jews during WWII. The abuse of children. I think these church actions can be defined in two categories; the ruthless attempt to maintain power and primacy over the affairs of Europe and willful ignorance while addressing problems seen as more immediate.

The abuse scandal clearly falls in the second category. I believe Benedict when he says he is horrified by the revelations of what went on over the past 50+ years. However, his lack of accountability or even a willingness to acknowledge his own role, or lack there of, in creating this monstrous cover-up is disgusting.

After a spirited debate, I looked into abuse by clergy of other faiths. It appears all faiths deal with this problem at about the same rate. However, the Catholic church has been far less willing to be proactive in addressing problems or transparent in their attempts to do that. I was confused why they would be so recalcitrant to admit any wrong doing until I thought about it. For the Catholic church to admit fault and admit that its agents had done wrong would be to give up the moral high ground to This Modern World. I am not making a claim on the veracity of this statement but it's one of the few ways I can come up with for the Church to allow this to go on.

Even as a firmly committed atheist, I have to admit, this idea has a lot of appeal. The idea of a higher power who eventually metes out justice is wonderfully compelling. Unfortunately, no one, not I, not the President, not the Pope, lives outside this world. By virtue of birth, we are a member of society. Because of cultural mores we agree, sometimes grudgingly, to obey the rules or else attempt to change them. Very few would argue to change the current laws and cultural ideas strongly condemning and punishing those who abuse others. As the leader of a large institution in which members of the authority (management) flagrantly flouted the rules, the Pope should be held responsible for the actions of others.

There. I feel a little better about that now.