In The Verdict, a 1982 film nominated for five Academy Awards, nurse Kaitlin Costello testifies in court in a medical malpractice suit. She tells the jury that two doctors forced her to change a medical record, thereby wiping away their negligence in a case that left a patient in a permanent coma. After describing the incident, Kaitlin breaks down on the witness stand, crying out: “Who were these men? Who were these men? I wanted to be a nurse!”
Today many Catholics are looking at the massive sexual scandals reported in the news this past month, first in Pennsylvania and now in Rome, where even Pope Francis may be implicated in the cover-up, and are asking themselves with the same passion, “Who are these men?”
Today many Catholics are looking at the massive sexual scandals reported in the news this past month, first in Pennsylvania and now in Rome, where even Pope Francis may be implicated in the cover-up, and are asking themselves with the same passion, “Who are these men?”
The Catholic Church teaches that all of us are sinners. It also encourages Catholics to avail themselves of the sacrament of confession, to seek the forgiveness of their sins as promised by Christ. During that confession the penitent must tell the truth regarding those sins, or the confession is invalid.
On August 22, 2018, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano called on Catholic Church leaders to tell the truth about the sexual scandals of the past fifty years.
In an extraordinary document, “Testimony,” Archbishop Vigano contends that the cover-up of sexual scandal extends to the Vatican and the secretive machinations of many of the priests, bishops, and cardinals who work there, men who either engage in homosexual acts and protect one another from discovery, or are complicit by their silence. (You can find an excellent account of the events following release of Vigano’s report, including the full text of the Archbishop’s “Testimony,” in this link: http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/ex-nuncio-accuses-pope-francis-of-failing-to-act-on-mccarricks-abuse.)
To understand the nature of these acts and the cover-up by what some pejoratively call “the Lavender Mafia,” we must first know two things.
First, the vast majority of these acts did not involve pedophilia. The victims and in many cases, the willing participants, were not prepubescent children. They were teenagers and men in their twenties, some of them seminarians. Often they were priests having sex with their fellow priests or with adult acquaintances. Why is this important? Because while most in the media will condemn pedophilia, they turn a blind eye to scandals involving homosexuality. Others want Church doctrine on homosexuality changed, or at least ignored, and so will remain silent.
Second, it is crucial to understand that a network of homosexual priests exists throughout the United States and is entrenched in the Vatican. Google “homosexuality, priests, and the Vatican,” and you will find dozens of articles addressing this issue, ranging from fringe Catholic commentators to such outlets as Vanity Fair and the Washington Post. Some researchers have contended that up to 40% of American Catholic priests are gay. (Research does not show how many are practicing homosexuals.) As long ago as the year 2000, American Catholic priests were contracting AIDS at a greater rate than the lay population. Because of such circumstances, Pope Benedict XVI directed that seminaries should no longer admit homosexuals unless they had lived celibately for three years. Some observers now contend that his inability to straighten out these abuses, and the hostility of homosexuals in the Vatican, led to his resignation from the papacy.
So what can the Catholic laity do with such information?
First, we can support our priests through prayer and encouragement. The damage done by the most recent revelations casts a long shadow. Many good priests, those with heterosexual or homosexual proclivities who nonetheless remain obedient to Church teaching, will feel disgusted by these stories and tainted by the sins of their fellow priests. These men will need our support and love in the coming months.
Second, we can approach this latest scandal with great humility. For those who are not Catholic and for those Catholics who may have missed the memo, let me remind you that sins against the Sixth Commandment—“Thou shall not commit adultery”—translates as no sex outside of the institution of marriage. How many of us, even the best of Catholics, have kept that commandment throughout a lifetime? How many of us entered chastely into marriage and remained loyal to our husband or wife “until death do us part?”
With this spirit of humility, we can then demand a full investigation of the charges made by Archbishop Vigano and by so many others. If these allegations prove false, then all is well. If these allegations prove true, then it’s time to haul the Lavender Mafia out of the shadows and into the light of day and when necessary, into a courtroom. To avoid more scandals, it’s time to rid the Church of sexually active priests. For ideas on how you can have a voice in this matter, please see this link: https://www.facebook.com/cmartinscc/posts/1082759921899991?__tn__=K-R
The Church must also demand that its seminaries more carefully screen their candidates. For too many years, some American seminaries have been all too willing to admit candidates who are open about their homosexuality while at the same time rejecting candidates whom the interviewers regard as too rigid, which is a code word for orthodox.
Finally, we must remember that priests, bishops, and even the Pope are not the Church. They may be the face of the Church, but they are not its heart. That heart is the truth of Jesus Christ and Catholic doctrine. The rot we see today lies in the hearts of men, not in the heart of the Church.
Some in the media, no doubt egged on by dissenters and by some in the Vatican, have already begun a campaign of slinging mud at Archbishop Vigano, writing him off as a crank and a conservative who wants revenge for his treatment by Pope Francis. I’m not buying it. The archbishop has nothing to gain by his accusations. They strike me, and many other commentators, as remarks made by a man at the end of his life who would like to meet his God with a clear conscience.
In the Gospel of John, Christ says: “The truth will set you free.” He goes on to say, “Truly, truly, I say to you, every one who commits a sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not continue in the house forever; the son continues forever.”
Time for the Vatican to hit the confessional.
Time, too, for a housecleaning.
On August 22, 2018, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano called on Catholic Church leaders to tell the truth about the sexual scandals of the past fifty years.
In an extraordinary document, “Testimony,” Archbishop Vigano contends that the cover-up of sexual scandal extends to the Vatican and the secretive machinations of many of the priests, bishops, and cardinals who work there, men who either engage in homosexual acts and protect one another from discovery, or are complicit by their silence. (You can find an excellent account of the events following release of Vigano’s report, including the full text of the Archbishop’s “Testimony,” in this link: http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/ex-nuncio-accuses-pope-francis-of-failing-to-act-on-mccarricks-abuse.)
To understand the nature of these acts and the cover-up by what some pejoratively call “the Lavender Mafia,” we must first know two things.
First, the vast majority of these acts did not involve pedophilia. The victims and in many cases, the willing participants, were not prepubescent children. They were teenagers and men in their twenties, some of them seminarians. Often they were priests having sex with their fellow priests or with adult acquaintances. Why is this important? Because while most in the media will condemn pedophilia, they turn a blind eye to scandals involving homosexuality. Others want Church doctrine on homosexuality changed, or at least ignored, and so will remain silent.
Second, it is crucial to understand that a network of homosexual priests exists throughout the United States and is entrenched in the Vatican. Google “homosexuality, priests, and the Vatican,” and you will find dozens of articles addressing this issue, ranging from fringe Catholic commentators to such outlets as Vanity Fair and the Washington Post. Some researchers have contended that up to 40% of American Catholic priests are gay. (Research does not show how many are practicing homosexuals.) As long ago as the year 2000, American Catholic priests were contracting AIDS at a greater rate than the lay population. Because of such circumstances, Pope Benedict XVI directed that seminaries should no longer admit homosexuals unless they had lived celibately for three years. Some observers now contend that his inability to straighten out these abuses, and the hostility of homosexuals in the Vatican, led to his resignation from the papacy.
So what can the Catholic laity do with such information?
First, we can support our priests through prayer and encouragement. The damage done by the most recent revelations casts a long shadow. Many good priests, those with heterosexual or homosexual proclivities who nonetheless remain obedient to Church teaching, will feel disgusted by these stories and tainted by the sins of their fellow priests. These men will need our support and love in the coming months.
Second, we can approach this latest scandal with great humility. For those who are not Catholic and for those Catholics who may have missed the memo, let me remind you that sins against the Sixth Commandment—“Thou shall not commit adultery”—translates as no sex outside of the institution of marriage. How many of us, even the best of Catholics, have kept that commandment throughout a lifetime? How many of us entered chastely into marriage and remained loyal to our husband or wife “until death do us part?”
With this spirit of humility, we can then demand a full investigation of the charges made by Archbishop Vigano and by so many others. If these allegations prove false, then all is well. If these allegations prove true, then it’s time to haul the Lavender Mafia out of the shadows and into the light of day and when necessary, into a courtroom. To avoid more scandals, it’s time to rid the Church of sexually active priests. For ideas on how you can have a voice in this matter, please see this link: https://www.facebook.com/cmartinscc/posts/1082759921899991?__tn__=K-R
The Church must also demand that its seminaries more carefully screen their candidates. For too many years, some American seminaries have been all too willing to admit candidates who are open about their homosexuality while at the same time rejecting candidates whom the interviewers regard as too rigid, which is a code word for orthodox.
Finally, we must remember that priests, bishops, and even the Pope are not the Church. They may be the face of the Church, but they are not its heart. That heart is the truth of Jesus Christ and Catholic doctrine. The rot we see today lies in the hearts of men, not in the heart of the Church.
Some in the media, no doubt egged on by dissenters and by some in the Vatican, have already begun a campaign of slinging mud at Archbishop Vigano, writing him off as a crank and a conservative who wants revenge for his treatment by Pope Francis. I’m not buying it. The archbishop has nothing to gain by his accusations. They strike me, and many other commentators, as remarks made by a man at the end of his life who would like to meet his God with a clear conscience.
In the Gospel of John, Christ says: “The truth will set you free.” He goes on to say, “Truly, truly, I say to you, every one who commits a sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not continue in the house forever; the son continues forever.”
Time for the Vatican to hit the confessional.
Time, too, for a housecleaning.
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