Bad Priests - What to Do?

Recently I engaged with a woman in a Facebook group on Catholics attending Protestant church services. Interestingly, that led to an anguished exchange on her behalf about the molestation of children by Catholic priests.
This was obviously such a strong emotional moment for her that she had to make it known.
I shall call her, "Ms. B," to protect her identity, and share with you that exchange.

☩☩☩

Ms. B.
“Such a snob. I grew up Protestant and converted to Catholicism. This is not a good time to be Catholic.

How do we explain all these molested children?
The Protestants aren't molesting children.”

    Here she calls me a, "snob," because she didn't like my comments about Catholics attending Protestant church services.

Me
Ms. B, can you prove no Protestants have ever molested children? Because I recall instances in my home town where it happened. Many others can as well. We know it happens.

It just doesn't make the news. The world sees Catholics as “snobs,” to use your words. Plus, 500 years of Catholic hatred and oppostion at the hands of Protestants has created a false demand for perfection from Catholics, while overlooking the faults Protestants may be guilty of ... and they jump to the attack when Catholics aren't perfect.

So how do you explain it when a priest molests a child?

The same as you do for any sin when it happens – you say, “Men are human and they are subject to sin and evil.
Just because they are church men – in any church - does not mean they are any more free of sin and vice than anyone else.”

How you handle it on a personal level is this:

- You dont judge them for it... only God and Christ are their judges.
- You discern it.... you acknowledge and condemn it without, condoning it.
- You seek justice for the victims where possible...the crime leads us to do that.
- You look to prevent it where possible... become part of your diocese Respect for Children campaign.
- Now for the hard part: You pray to God for healing upon the victims, their families, theChurch, AND you pray to God to ask for His mercy, conversion, and healing for the offenders.

Ms. B
“There have been children molested by ministers who were not priests. However NOTHING like the hundreds of Catholic children by priests.”

You mean nothing that you may have heard about, for reasons I've already mentioned – lets be clear on that. Thats an assumption.

Ms. B
“In 1917 the Virgin Mary revealed the secret of the molestations to the three Shepherd children-there were three secrets. The secret about the molestations was not to be revealed until 1960. In 1960 Jacinta was a nun and she shared this secret with the Vatican. She was murdered and another nun who was supposed to look like her was brought in.She didn't look like her but she impersonated her until 1985 when she died. I attended St. Matthew's Cathedral in 2020 when the Archbishop of DC was removed because there were over 100 priests who were molesting children or had molested children and he had covered for them. One of the priests from my own parish in Ohio molested 20 children and is in prison in Vancouver British Columbus. They have closed 21 Catholic churches in the Diocese of Columbus Ohio”.

So, action has been taken and earthly justice meted out? As it should be i nthe wake of such awful things.

Ms. B.
"It's time for the church to allow them to marry".

That's a personal opinon, one that assumes that because a man might have sex with a wife, he will automatically be free of sin's temptation to have sex outside that marriage.
That is modern thinking – it is certainly no assurance.

Ms. B
"As far as praying for mercy and conversion we are supposed to do that while young lives are being wrecked by these molestations."

Yes. Certainly so...pray and even act on behalf of both victims and perpetrators. Christ told you that. Do you find that shocking?

More on that near the end. So keep reading.

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I have been praying on this for a several days, since that exchange, asking for God to illuminate my heart on this matter of sinful priests. I promised her that much.

Several things come out of that.

- First of all, Ms. B. your deep anguish, frustration, anger, and what might be a developing lack of faith, well, I am worried about you.
    These feelings are powerful, inflaming forces that have the real potential to scorch and damage your own spiritual life, and send you in wrong directions.
    Yes, I am worried abou that for you, and I pray that God sends you some encouragment and illumination.
    However, the part I am most sad about is that I am not a grief or anger counselor. For that reason, I would encourage you to seek a professional counselor, a spiritual advisor, or someone who can help you work through these feelings that you have. Please stay to the end to find a little more on that.

- Secondly, I was reminded of something written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, when he said:

"The test of a first-rate intelligence means the ability to hold two opposing ideas in the mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function."

    What Fitzgerald is describing is a state of mind where one sees something that is difficult, profoundly troubling, or which appears hopeless..., yet we may still be determined to make them otherwise.
    This reflects a complex imaginative intelligence, one that can navigate life's complexities and contradictions without being paralyzed by them.
    This means we must contrast the bad things that happen in life, even in The Church, with the beauty and greater good that That Church brings to us... even though some few men of that Church hurt others in the pursuit of sin.
    Because not all men in that church are guilty of such sin and hurtful behavior. The fact of the matter is, the majority of them are not, and have not been over all of The Church's existence.
    Yes, there have been cases, even periods of history, where bad men were in leadership positions in The Church – and The Church does not deny this, today.

    And while we are tempted to focus only on these lurid things, at the same time, we must look at the Commission of The Church, which is the salvation of souls through Apostolic teaching, and the success of that effort over 2,000 years.
You, yourself, can witness to that success.

- In the third case, think how many millions of people have been brought to know Christ, who have participated in His sacraments, who have been led to a better life - quite possibly to guaranteed salvation in the case of the saints – and even the geopolitical stability wrought by The Church through much of Western culture's past.
    Ponder, too, the divinely inspired beauty of Church architecture, or the beauty of her music.
    There's also the spiritual beauty of the stalwart teaching of the Apostles of Christ Himself, which The Church still teaches. Remember, the church is not a, "Bible only," church - it is an Apostolic one and it has professed and continues that Apostolic core since the beginning. That is beautiful.
    And the Bible.... The beauty of that gift of The Church is incomprehensible.

- Fourth, let's look what The Church says about the behavior of the men in its ecclesial service...

"This presence of Christ in the minister (priest) is not to be understood as if the latter were preserved from all human weaknesses, the spirit of domination, error, even (grave) sin. The power of the Holy Spirit does not guarantee all acts of ministers in the same way. While this guarantee extends to the sacraments, so that even the minister's sin cannot impede the fruit of grace, in many other acts the minister leaves human traces that are not always signs of fidelity to the Gospel and consequently can harm the Apostolic fruitfulness of The Church."

CCC, ch. 1550 ...(emphasis mine)

    What this says is that, even though The Church minister (the priest) may be guilty of grave and mortal sin – and molesting children is mortal sin - he does not lose the ability to extend the full measure of grace in the sacraments to the faithful.
    In other words, because a man does something bad does not mean that the good he does is nullified, or that he loses the capacity to do good for others.

- Number Five...How many bad priests, who despite their personal sins, have been the instruments of blessing in the Eucharist, Reconciliation, marriages and baptisms, Confirmation, the all-important Unction for the sick and dying... all the sacramental blessings that he is commissioned and authorized to administer?
    And this doesn't even touch on their participation in, and facilitation of, things like retreats, seminars, counseling, education, work for the poor, and other beneficial activities.
    All of these are still valid and still working for the spiritual good of the recipients, despite his human failing.

    Okay, all that said, I know your heart may still be hardened, and you don't accept what I've said.
    It is hard to differentiate and reconcile the Overall Good as opposed to Tthe Bad. Human social culture focuses on one extreme or the other, especially in recent centuries. That is, a man is either all good or he is totally bad - we are taught there's no other option.
    This is disproved many times over, but we cling to this idea regardless.

    So what are we to do? How are we to follow F. Scott Fitgeralds advice, and keep these two contrasting ideas in mind at the same time, without being paralyzed?

    For that answer I'm reminded of a man I once met, Tony, who told me that he was molested by a priest when he was young. That surprised me, because I had just met the guy. But what he next told me made a lot of sense:

"I could spend my whole life paralyzed by that event, but I had wise parents and a good advisor. That priest will be judged by God, but I was taught that my life wasn't ruined unless I chose to make it so.
I can't forget what happened, but I'm able to reconcile it and forgive him in so far as anyone could. And Im glad that, today, we are bringing these things out in the open. That is needed."
  

    I'm also reminded of the words of Jesus:

Jesus said to his disciples:

"To you who hear I say, love your enemies,
do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you,
pray for those who mistreat you.
To the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other one as well, and from the person who takes your cloak,
do not withhold even your tunic.
Give to everyone who asks of you, and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back.
Do to others as you would have them do to you.
For if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?
Even sinners love those who love them.
And if you do good to those who do good to you,
what credit is that to you?
Even sinners do the same.
If you lend money to those from whom you expect repayment,
what credit is that to you?
Even sinners lend to sinners, and get back the same amount.
But rather, love your enemies and do good to them,
and lend expecting nothing back; then your reward will be great and you will be children of the Most High,
for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.
Be merciful, just as also your Father is merciful.

Stop judging and you will not be judged.
Stop condemning and you will not be condemned.
Forgive and you will be forgiven.
Give and gifts will be given to you;
a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap.
For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you."

- Luke 6:27-38

    Easy for me to say, right?
    No. It's very difficult; it goes against our conditioning about, "human justice."
This is especially so when you feel anguish and hurt, anger and even hatred.    

    But Jesus wasn't about human affairs. He says to let those things go, and instead to forgive - and you will be forgiven. Maybe you won't forget – okay. I can relate to that, myself, thanks to a few bad experiences.
    But to forgive is His command. That is for YOUR peace, your internal peace of heart. That is for your eternal saouls salvation. Once you have that, you can de-emphasize your anguish and be more in tune with Him.
    And I suppose we should also be reminded that Jesus was very clear that judgement for our sin is a thing..., for those who choose sin. We often forget that part; that is the other side of the coin.
    If you trust in Jesus, then, you have to trust Him that he meant that, too.
So let Him lead the way, follow Him, and do all you can to do as he says. It may be hard..., it may be the most difficult thing you can do.
    But it is what you are called to do. From there, you can break out into a different way of thinking from the heart.
    Because, as he says...

Forgive and you will be forgiven.
Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap.
For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you."