After a new swell of controversy over allegations of sexual abuse by Catholic priests, Pope Benedict apologized to victims through his pastoral letter of apology this month. Many find his promises to do more to protect children from this abuse shallow at best. Singer Sinead O'Connor voices her biting criticism in this blog post: http://subrealism.blogspot.com/2010/04/to-sinead-oconnor-popes-apology-hollow.html.
Resonating the thoughts of O'Connor I see the criticism the Catholic Church is facing as nothing new nor as undeserved. It is disheartening to consider the number of sexual abuse offenses that have been exposed thus far and it is much more unnerving to consider the cases not yet known and those that may never be known. It is equally unsettling when one takes into account the mob-like secrecy and power of the Vatican. One would think that with such power the Church would be able to root out its sources of degradation with relative ease yet the problem continues to exist.
To know the true sincerity of the Pope's promise is challenging but this can change through his efforts to turn promises into realities; by beginning to make true reparations to victims. It is shameful to consider the injustice done to the people who so revere and respect this institution and Catholics deserve a renewed faith in their spiritual leaders.
To do this the Catholic Church needs to step down from its high horse of tradition and consider how it can better serve its followers in the twenty-first century. The Church lives in a time of antiquity where women cannot be priests and priests and nuns cannot marry. Because they are married to God they sacrifice a marriage to any other as well as any family other than the parishoners they serve. This is supposed to allow them to better serve God and God's followers. Such doctrine, in my opinion, is ridiculous and unfounded. Wouldn't a priest, who knows the experience of marriage and biological fatherhood be better able to guide those parishoners who come to him in need of help? How can a priest who has not lived the experience of maintaining a loving marriage or been responsible for raising a child truly guide those that come to him for spiritual guidance in those realms?
It is along these lines that I would like to argue that perhaps some of the accused priests would not resort to abuse if they were allowed to maintain relationships only natural to humankind. When priests take on oath of celibacy it does not grant them supernatural willpower nor absolve them of their biologies; they continue to be human. Bound to this code priests may break under such unrealistic pressures and abandon their vows in the most atrocious way; but this is a theory the Church would never acknowledge. Sadly, I think it will be a very long time before the Vatican legitimately recognizes the harm its tradition-laden doctrine does to its followers living and thinking in another century and it will not truly make reparations until that recognition is achieved.
Resonating the thoughts of O'Connor I see the criticism the Catholic Church is facing as nothing new nor as undeserved. It is disheartening to consider the number of sexual abuse offenses that have been exposed thus far and it is much more unnerving to consider the cases not yet known and those that may never be known. It is equally unsettling when one takes into account the mob-like secrecy and power of the Vatican. One would think that with such power the Church would be able to root out its sources of degradation with relative ease yet the problem continues to exist.
To know the true sincerity of the Pope's promise is challenging but this can change through his efforts to turn promises into realities; by beginning to make true reparations to victims. It is shameful to consider the injustice done to the people who so revere and respect this institution and Catholics deserve a renewed faith in their spiritual leaders.
To do this the Catholic Church needs to step down from its high horse of tradition and consider how it can better serve its followers in the twenty-first century. The Church lives in a time of antiquity where women cannot be priests and priests and nuns cannot marry. Because they are married to God they sacrifice a marriage to any other as well as any family other than the parishoners they serve. This is supposed to allow them to better serve God and God's followers. Such doctrine, in my opinion, is ridiculous and unfounded. Wouldn't a priest, who knows the experience of marriage and biological fatherhood be better able to guide those parishoners who come to him in need of help? How can a priest who has not lived the experience of maintaining a loving marriage or been responsible for raising a child truly guide those that come to him for spiritual guidance in those realms?
It is along these lines that I would like to argue that perhaps some of the accused priests would not resort to abuse if they were allowed to maintain relationships only natural to humankind. When priests take on oath of celibacy it does not grant them supernatural willpower nor absolve them of their biologies; they continue to be human. Bound to this code priests may break under such unrealistic pressures and abandon their vows in the most atrocious way; but this is a theory the Church would never acknowledge. Sadly, I think it will be a very long time before the Vatican legitimately recognizes the harm its tradition-laden doctrine does to its followers living and thinking in another century and it will not truly make reparations until that recognition is achieved.
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