Tolerance of sin has led us here
Many people are experiencing crushing suffering at the news of a severe lack of episcopal oversight, the news of episcopal malfeasance, the news of perversion in the priesthood, and news of the abuse wrought upon young people and seminarians by priests and bishops who committed abominable cruelties.
Act One
As mentioned here, the stage is set for a reckoning. Dioceses in which perversion, assaults and coverups occurred, deserve the full force of public condemnation and whatever legal settlements and sanctions the courts impose, not to mention the canonical sanctions which can and should be enforced against bishops, priests and laymen who enabled a culture of abuse either by their silence and inaction or by their active participation in criminal and immoral behaviour.
As mentioned here, the stage is set for a reckoning. Dioceses in which perversion, assaults and coverups occurred, deserve the full force of public condemnation and whatever legal settlements and sanctions the courts impose, not to mention the canonical sanctions which can and should be enforced against bishops, priests and laymen who enabled a culture of abuse either by their silence and inaction or by their active participation in criminal and immoral behaviour.
It should be abundantly clear by now that decades of cafeteria (c)atholicism has led us to a state of ubiquitous decadence. Sin will not triumph, however, because Christ is the head of the Church, and we have Jesus' assurance that the gates of hell will not prevail (Matthew 16:18).
Catholics in North America and Europe, by failing to confront sin and by failing to hold each other to the standard of the Gospel, have allowed the harshest and cruelest of outcomes to become entrenched in parishes and seminaries. To root out the perpetrators of cruelties against innocent children and seminarians, a thorough program must be undertaken which is just and unrelenting in its preservation of the truth and goodness.
For too long we have diminished the reality of sin — we have refused to call a sin a sin — and we have excused sin in the name of a mistaken notion of mercy. In our efforts to be open to the world we have become all too willing to abandon the Way, the Truth, and the Life. In order to avoid causing offense we offer to ourselves and to others niceties and human consolation.
Why do we do this? Is it out of an earnest desire to display a misguided sense of being “pastoral?” Have we covered over the truth out of fear? Are we afraid of being disliked by people in this world? Or are we afraid of being called hypocrites because we are not striving tirelessly for holiness in our own lives?
Perhaps these are the reasons, but perhaps it is more or less complex than this. In the end, the excuses do not matter. We must be done with sin. It must be rooted out and again considered unacceptable. Love sinners? Yes. Accept true repentance? Yes. But do not say sin is okay. And do not pretend that grave violations of office and of trust come without grave, lasting consequences.—Bishop Robert C. Morlino
Justice demands a thorough house cleaning and the assurance that mercy never entails tolerance of sin, and criminal behaviour is never given the opportunity to spread nor go unpunished.
Most Reverend J. Michael Miller, CSB, Archbishop of Vancouver
http://rcav.org/s-recent-revelations-2018
On Anger, Grief, and the Future
Most Reverend Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., Archbishop of Philadelphia
http://archphila.org/archbishop-chaputs-weekly-column-on-anger-grief-and-the-future/
For too long we have diminished the reality of sin — we have refused to call a sin a sin — and we have excused sin in the name of a mistaken notion of mercy. In our efforts to be open to the world we have become all too willing to abandon the Way, the Truth, and the Life. In order to avoid causing offense we offer to ourselves and to others niceties and human consolation.
Why do we do this? Is it out of an earnest desire to display a misguided sense of being “pastoral?” Have we covered over the truth out of fear? Are we afraid of being disliked by people in this world? Or are we afraid of being called hypocrites because we are not striving tirelessly for holiness in our own lives?
Perhaps these are the reasons, but perhaps it is more or less complex than this. In the end, the excuses do not matter. We must be done with sin. It must be rooted out and again considered unacceptable. Love sinners? Yes. Accept true repentance? Yes. But do not say sin is okay. And do not pretend that grave violations of office and of trust come without grave, lasting consequences.—Bishop Robert C. Morlino
Justice demands a thorough house cleaning and the assurance that mercy never entails tolerance of sin, and criminal behaviour is never given the opportunity to spread nor go unpunished.
- The (Ordinary Form of the) Mass has become a plaything of priests and people. Fix the Ordinary Form of the Mass; correct its celebration. Restore ad orientem worship. Restore the tabernacle to the centre of the sanctuary, preferably on an ad orientem altar. Restore the practice of kneeling to receive communion on the tongue. Liturgy that fails to be celebrated in a dignified manner befitting the Presence of the Eucharistic Lord is a breeding ground for every manner of abuse. Priests and people who cannot respect the Eucharistic Lord cannot possible act in a respectful manner toward Christ's disciples. https://archdpdx.org/documents/2018/6/ALH%20First%20Edition%20REV%20-%203%20June%202018.pdf
- Fraternal correction in seminaries must be public, personal, thorough, respectful, and must point to the Sacrament of Penance.
- Excise from the priesthood and seminaries those who are morally bankrupt.
- Allow faithful bishops to lead a council that will purge the Church of charlatans in the episcopacy. Include on that council laymen who are faithful and wise Catholics not tainted by progressivism nor by an idolatry of the social sciences.
- Rigorously vet personnel employed by the Church. Insist that laymen who work for Church institutions (schools, hospitals, charities, etc.) live morally upright lives fully configured to Church teaching. Expel from employment anyone who obstinately and publicly defies Church teaching.
- Deny Holy Communion to public officials and others who publicly flaunt Church teaching. Until they demonstrate appropriate humility, perform publicly their penance, and for a period of one year demonstrate the will to live without compromise the teaching of Jesus Christ and His Church, prohibit manifest public sinners from receiving the Holy Eucharist.
Most Reverend J. Michael Miller, CSB, Archbishop of Vancouver
http://rcav.org/s-recent-revelations-2018
On Anger, Grief, and the Future
Most Reverend Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., Archbishop of Philadelphia
http://archphila.org/archbishop-chaputs-weekly-column-on-anger-grief-and-the-future/
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