A book about sexual abuse within the Catholic Church was recently published. It immediately jumped to a prominent place on the hit lists, which is no wonder - there are not many left-liberal and/or atheist journalists and influencers in this country who have not promoted the opus by thousands in recent weeks.
It could easily be that I'm a fundamentalist, prejudiced scumbag, but if that catty dean enthusiastically advertises the book for me, who otherwise, on every single Christian holiday, wipes his feet with promiscuous Facebook posts on everything from St. Stephen to the Virgin Mary, who respects the untouchable goddess Klára Dobrev, who is afraid of totalitarian clericalism, unfortunately makes her mistrustful somewhere deep inside.
Of course, among non-believers, a book in which church scandals are described in detail can be a real sensation, but a practicing Christian was already aware of the workings of the Evil One. In vain does the author claim that "according to believers" the priest, as an image of Christ, never does wrong: this can unfortunately be a fatal misconception.
The catechism specifically states, "The presence of Christ in the servant should not be understood as if he is protected against all human weakness, the power to dominate, errors, i.e. sin" - only the sacraments are administered by the priest as a servant of Christ, and so he cannot spoil it with his sins. You can fail in everything else.
Especially since it is in the Evil One's best interest to haunt him. And especially when the world (including progressive Christianity) tells him like a smooth-mannered snake that celibacy is an inhumane shackle and that the good-headed priest marries the spirit of the age.
Jesus Christ himself warned, "it is impossible for scandals not to occur", and he washed his disciples' feet in the same awareness that one of them would soon betray him and put him at his mercy, while the other (to whom he built the church and entrusted the keys to the kingdom of heaven) would deny it three times and cursing him. After the admonition to "watch and pray that you may not fall into temptation", the disciples without exception fall asleep, leaving the suffering Christ alone. Were all the apostles mortal? Well, it's poor.
Have they had unacceptable actions? Hairy. Have twelve of you failed for good? Yes, unfortunately.
However, the others eventually became saints, and Christianity, built on the select company of the apostles, still has 2.4 billion members today. Which, of course, does not mean that the church could tolerate even pedophiles among its priests: no, the corrupted parts must be cut off, and even painstaking care must be taken to keep them away. This is not a question. Based on the comments and foreign experiences, however, a significant number of readers draw much more far-reaching conclusions from the stomach-churning stories: "Are they preaching to me about good and bad? Do these come with sexual ethics? While I'm far different from the chus, because at least I'm not a pedophile!" - many people pat themselves on the back in a pharisee way. Compared to pedophilia, for example, adultery (much more common) may seem like a mild prank, but in some cases it leads to the disintegration of the family and the fatherless child, who lacks love and self-confidence, becomes an easy target. While shuddering at the sins of others and pointing at the clergy, it never hurts to do some self-examination.
Another favorite conclusion of disillusioned Catholics is, "Why should a person go to church if sinful people are preaching to him? Unbelievable gang, it makes more sense to settle our affairs directly with our personal God.”
However, this is also a mistake, because if this was the most reasonable and the most salutary, then Jesus Christ would not have thought of entrusting Peter with "feed my sheep". Of course, you can say that it's okay, but the church would still be more credible and attractive if it would at least discuss the issues in front of the general public. However, this is contradicted by the fact that in Germany, which is referred to as a model, continuous, public discussion has been going on for more than 10 years, yet more and more people are turning their backs on both major churches. It doesn't seem like making pedophilia the number one topic is a definite recipe for success.
While the solution is not, in the first place, for the distraught reader to desperately run away from the church, lest he accidentally get hurt. Where do you think you would run: to the trendy yoga guru, who is at least as likely to commit abuse? The Scriptures do not say to flee from evil, but to "overcome evil with good." Anyone who prays for priests and helps their overworked parish priest is already increasing the number of good deeds in the church.
Anyone who provides their children with a stable family background and pays attention to their relationships already reduces the chance of all kinds of sexual abuse. Anyone who, as a Catholic theologian, would write an inspiring bestseller about the gift of celibacy, with ten carefully analyzed personal stories, would already be helping those struggling with temptations. And those who raise their sons in such a way that, where appropriate, the grace of the profession finds good ground in him, will already further increase the proportion of authentic pastors. The church is not some kind of distant bishopric, but we ourselves.
Source: Vasarnap.hu
