Christians refer to the power for evil as Satan or the Devil. Satan is traditionally thought to have been an archangel who disobeyed God and so was thrown out of heaven. Describe the theory of original sin. Original sin is the theory that because Adam and Eve went against the will of God, all humankind inherited original sin. These are the factors that explain, not just why the institution put its own interests above those of children, but also why it succeeded for so long.
The church is not alone in believing that evil could be tolerated for a "good cause". But it was unique in the democratic world in its ability to get away with doing so in case after case and for decade after decade.
To cut out the source of the corruption, the church would have to attack its own authoritarian culture. Had Benedict done so in his pastoral letter, it would have been the most dramatic moment in the history of Christianity since Paul fell off his horse on the road to Damascus. Benedict, as Cardinal Ratzinger, was one of the key figures in the Catholic counter-revolution. His career has been all about rolling back the democratic ideal of the church as the "people of God" that emerged from Vatican II and re-establishing hierarchical control.
Indeed, in the pastoral letter he slyly suggests that Vatican II itself was responsible for the church's collusion with abusing priests — which, given the existence of precisely the same system long before the council, is patent nonsense.
So, for all the breast-beating in the pastoral letter, there is no acknowledgment of Benedict's own culpability. If the "credibility and effectiveness" of Irish bishops have been undermined, as he says, by the scandals, what of his own standing as a bishop, as the power behind John Paul II's throne and now as pope?
There is no explicit endorsement of the new protocols in Ireland demanding that all suspicions be referred to the police. Indeed, the demand that "the child safety norms of the church in Ireland" be "applied fully and impartially in conformity with canon law", and the weasel-worded injunction to "co-operate with the civil authorities in their area of competence", seem to reinforce the notion that canon law matters more than criminal law.
There is no rowing back on the line enunciated by the Vatican's secretary of state, Tarcisio Bertone, last week that "the church still enjoys great confidence on the part of the faithful; it is just that someone is trying to undermine that". That "someone" is, in fact, the church's own leadership and its unshaken commitment to hierarchical power.
The faithful have known that for a long time now. EU ramps up infringement proceedings against Ireland Sign In. Don't have an account? Forgot Password? Not an Irish Times subscriber? Update Payment Details Not Now. So, he started to listen. Really listen. That meant so much to me. How I wish that more bishops including Pope Francis were more like that priest: willing to truly listen to the anguish of the laity as the horror of this crisis continues to rip us apart.
The response we usually get is tone-deafness, even as the evidence of the twin evils of abuse and cover-up pile up. There has been no greater evil in the history of the Catholic Church than the sacrifice of children to priest-pedophiles. Why don't these guys get that? Now we have the Pennsylvania grand jury report , which is both shocking and not shocking. We continue to be shocked by the graphic descriptions of priest-pedophiles abusing kids in unspeakable ways and how bishops perpetuated evil through their self-serving actions.
We are not shocked, however, that this happened in Pennsylvania. Because we now know it was happening everywhere. The reports keep coming out — and will continue to come out — because church leaders keep hiding information while hoping it all just goes away. This is never going to move to reconciliation and closure until the church finally summons the courage, compassion and humility to address this crisis head-on.
In other words, live the words that Jesus spoke. And by "church," I mean all of us. Every Catholic lay and clergy is called to confront the evil of abuse. Those who decide to do nothing have decided to condone this evil. There are only guilty bystanders at this point. It's time to get to work. First, bring the sins committed and hidden in darkness into the light.
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