The floor of hell is paved with the skulls of bishops.
Saint Athanasius
As usual, God seems to have a sense of irony.
On October 14, 2018, the Catholic Church will declare Pope Paul VI a saint.
Liberals in the Church rejoiced when they heard this news. After all, Paul VI had seen Vatican II through to the end, going along with liturgical reforms, the open windows policy, and the new stress on secular issues. In 1965 he also launched the Synod of Bishops to broaden the involvement of bishops in the universal Church, thereby reducing the power of the papacy.
Saint Athanasius
As usual, God seems to have a sense of irony.
On October 14, 2018, the Catholic Church will declare Pope Paul VI a saint.
Liberals in the Church rejoiced when they heard this news. After all, Paul VI had seen Vatican II through to the end, going along with liturgical reforms, the open windows policy, and the new stress on secular issues. In 1965 he also launched the Synod of Bishops to broaden the involvement of bishops in the universal Church, thereby reducing the power of the papacy.
Of course, it was also Paul VI who in 1968 issued Humanae Vitae, the encyclical letter that condemned birth control and prophesized the consequent sexual turmoil roiling our culture today. Liberals were unhappy then with that encyclical, and are unhappy now, but since so few Catholics obey its precepts, they were willing to give it a pass.
They were also willing to overlook Pope Paul’s comment on June 29, 1972, when he said: “From some crack the smoke of Satan has entered the temple of God.” Most of these folks don’t believe in Satan, so they were willing to let this one slip by as well.
Then came the summer of 2018 when irony strode onto the stage. God does indeed have a sense not only of irony, but also of the absurd.
That smoke of Satan, which in 2002 burst into flames in Boston’s priestly sex scandals, has now turned into a raging wildfire. This summer’s disgusting accusations against Cardinal McCarrick, the Pennsylvania sexual scandals involving more than 300 priests over the last fifty years, and now the Archbishop Vigano letter describing how these scandals reach deep inside the Vatican and may include Pope Francis himself: the Church is in flames.
Meanwhile, secular papers like the New York Times and many liberal Catholics try to throw water on these fires by making this scandal an issue of “liberal” and “conservative.” Chicago Cardinal Cupich actually had the balls to say in public: "The Pope has a bigger agenda. He's got to get on with other things, of talking about the environment and protecting migrants and carrying on the work of the church. We're not going to go down a rabbit hole on this."
I am trying to avoid crude language here, so supply any adjectives you wish to these questions: Are you kidding me? You’re talking about a network of sexual predators, about priests who couldn’t stick their vows, about cover-up after cover-up by bishops and cardinals, and the Pope has more important things on his agenda like the environment? Is the Pope concerned about souls reaching heaven? (By the way, I seriously doubt whether the Pope knows more about the environment than I do, which means he knows next to nothing.)
Cupich went on to say that some of the Pope’s critics were racists who opposed him because he was Hispanic. In fact, Pope Francis is the son of two native Italians who immigrated to South America. (Is anyone else besides me sick of this business of dragging race into every issue?)
A final note to Cardinal Cupich: You’re right. I hope you don’t go down a rabbit hole after saying something this brazen when faced with so many victims, so much abuse, and such flagrant wrongdoing. I hope you and all the rest who think as you do are dropped into the Grand Canyon.
So here we are, preparing to canonize a man who almost fifty years ago warned us that Satan had entered the Church.
We should have listened to him.
Let me end with one brief story.
Years ago, after my conversion to Catholicism at age forty, a friend told me a bit about his early life. He was married, had children, and had long ago left Catholicism for a Protestant denomination. Back in the 1970s, long before his marriage, when he was in college in Washington, D.C. and was still a practicing Catholic, my friend went to confession to a priest. At the time he was confused about his sexuality and had entered into several homosexual liaisons. The priest heard his confession, and then, instead of extending penance and forgiveness, sexually solicited him.
To all you priests, straight and gay, who practice the Faith and keep your vows, we love you. May God bless you.
To the rest of you boys, it’s time to hit the road.
They were also willing to overlook Pope Paul’s comment on June 29, 1972, when he said: “From some crack the smoke of Satan has entered the temple of God.” Most of these folks don’t believe in Satan, so they were willing to let this one slip by as well.
Then came the summer of 2018 when irony strode onto the stage. God does indeed have a sense not only of irony, but also of the absurd.
That smoke of Satan, which in 2002 burst into flames in Boston’s priestly sex scandals, has now turned into a raging wildfire. This summer’s disgusting accusations against Cardinal McCarrick, the Pennsylvania sexual scandals involving more than 300 priests over the last fifty years, and now the Archbishop Vigano letter describing how these scandals reach deep inside the Vatican and may include Pope Francis himself: the Church is in flames.
Meanwhile, secular papers like the New York Times and many liberal Catholics try to throw water on these fires by making this scandal an issue of “liberal” and “conservative.” Chicago Cardinal Cupich actually had the balls to say in public: "The Pope has a bigger agenda. He's got to get on with other things, of talking about the environment and protecting migrants and carrying on the work of the church. We're not going to go down a rabbit hole on this."
I am trying to avoid crude language here, so supply any adjectives you wish to these questions: Are you kidding me? You’re talking about a network of sexual predators, about priests who couldn’t stick their vows, about cover-up after cover-up by bishops and cardinals, and the Pope has more important things on his agenda like the environment? Is the Pope concerned about souls reaching heaven? (By the way, I seriously doubt whether the Pope knows more about the environment than I do, which means he knows next to nothing.)
Cupich went on to say that some of the Pope’s critics were racists who opposed him because he was Hispanic. In fact, Pope Francis is the son of two native Italians who immigrated to South America. (Is anyone else besides me sick of this business of dragging race into every issue?)
A final note to Cardinal Cupich: You’re right. I hope you don’t go down a rabbit hole after saying something this brazen when faced with so many victims, so much abuse, and such flagrant wrongdoing. I hope you and all the rest who think as you do are dropped into the Grand Canyon.
So here we are, preparing to canonize a man who almost fifty years ago warned us that Satan had entered the Church.
We should have listened to him.
Let me end with one brief story.
Years ago, after my conversion to Catholicism at age forty, a friend told me a bit about his early life. He was married, had children, and had long ago left Catholicism for a Protestant denomination. Back in the 1970s, long before his marriage, when he was in college in Washington, D.C. and was still a practicing Catholic, my friend went to confession to a priest. At the time he was confused about his sexuality and had entered into several homosexual liaisons. The priest heard his confession, and then, instead of extending penance and forgiveness, sexually solicited him.
To all you priests, straight and gay, who practice the Faith and keep your vows, we love you. May God bless you.
To the rest of you boys, it’s time to hit the road.