Great Article on Becoming the Solution

There's a good article by Jennifer Morse at the National Catholic Register.  Here's the opening paragraph:

I know you are upset. I’m upset. The revelations of perverted men using the priesthood for their own purposes has shaken everything we thought we could count on. Most proposals for reform require cooperation from the very same people who have already failed us. These ideas still leave us, the ordinary Catholic in the pew, at the mercies of men we no longer trust.

This is the frustration.  All the mechanisms to reform the Church are ultimately in the bishops' hands.  We lay people have very little power.  You can't tell me that isn't deliberate.  These are power-loving company men. 

I appreciate this author's response.  The only seminarian I know seems to be entirely in the Fr. James Martin camp.  He is more upset about the 'witch hunt' for gay priests, which as far as I can tell, is not happening anywhere?  If it is, I haven't seen any news about it.  He posts more about that on facebook than he does on actual victims or reform, so you can sort of see where his heart is.

He's already said he hasn't experienced any harassment.  Which is good!

I would also like to point out, in response to Morse's article, that there were people who supported Father Haley and it didn't do him much good.  But maybe now that we are riding the crest of the tidal wave of abuse, the culture will change.

One name that has gotten besmirched by this is Bishop Loverde.  I have a picture of him, a couple actually.  He confirmed two of my kids.  An auxiliary military bishop confirmed the other three.  But that's something I think that should stop.  When I was confirmed, no one thought to get their photo taken with the bishop!   Stop treating bishops like they are celebrities.  It's not about you and the bishop.  It's about you and the Holy Spirit!  And as someone who has taught Confirmation prep for several years, I can assure you that only a small percentage of those youths confirmed will continue to go to Mass or practice their religion.  They will not darken a church until maybe when they get married (after living together for a number of years) and they'll only want a Catholic wedding to please grandma or because it is pretty and makes for a good photo backdrop.

Part of the reason why sacraments have become so shallow and so rote, is due to the lack of belief on the part of the clergy.  You can't be so immersed in sin and still evangelize.  You are just going through the motions.  You can't give what you don't have.  You can't lead people to faith if you don't have faith yourself.