Pope Emeritus Benedict on scandals

[Jack4]

http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/the-church-and-the-scandal-of-sexual-abuse

Title says all.

[Guest]

I am really glad that a member of the hierarchy (Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI) has highlighted the following :

Quote

 

"Allow me a brief excursus at this point. In light of the scale of pedophilic misconduct, a word of Jesus has again come to attention which says: “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung round his neck and he were thrown into the sea” (Mark 9:42).

The phrase “the little ones” in the language of Jesus means the common believers who can be confounded in their faith by the intellectual arrogance of those who think they are clever. So here Jesus protects the deposit of the faith with an emphatic threat of punishment to those who do it harm."

 

I am only 3/4 through reading what Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI had to say and it is a lot to take in.  I was saddened that so far there is no mention of the laity, let alone the victims of poedaphilia and their lifelong suffering, if not suicide.  It is still really, The Church as hierarchy reflecting on The Church as hierarchy as if it was the whole of The Church.  Holy Orders, for one, is only a small part of The Church and not the whole by a very long shot.  I did pick up one reference to "the common believers" above, which did give me a smile, although the term is ambiguous.

But then perhaps I have not read far enough and am speaking too soon.  I am hoping that that will prove be the case.

Edited April 11, 2019 by BarbaraTherese

[Guest]

All only my two cents worth and mine nonetheless: I have read the whole document, but far too quickly.  I need to read it again and slowly and thoughtfully.    My impression is that it is an important read.

The words in the quote box below did impress, while it is important to get it into the larger context and the story of Job with the comment on Apocalypse ..........both in Scripture.  Sadly to me, it is also an appeal for status quo.  I think that we can and we must build a better Church - after all, what exists today is a creation of man in the human institution or administration.

Quote

 

"The timeliness of what the Apocalypse is telling us here is obvious. Today, the accusation against God is, above all, about characterizing His Church as entirely bad, and thus dissuading us from it. The idea of a better Church, created by ourselves, is in fact a proposal of the devil, with which he wants to lead us away from the living God, through a deceitful logic by which we are too easily duped. No, even today the Church is not just made up of bad fish and weeds. The Church of God also exists today, and today it is the very instrument through which God saves us.

It is very important to oppose the lies and half-truths of the devil with the whole truth: Yes, there is sin in the Church and evil. But even today there is the Holy Church, which is indestructible. Today there are many people who humbly believe, suffer and love, in whom the real God, the loving God, shows Himself to us. Today God also has His witnesses (martyres) in the world. We just have to be vigilant in order to see and hear them."

 

 

St Joseph pray for us.

[Gary david]

Very, very well stated barbara! I do believe you are correct. The heart of the church stands unchanged as it always will. The church is not bad and I am sure it has half truths as well. The church is run by men, influenced by saten im sure in ways that are obvious and not so obvious, but directed by the Holy Spirit. The church will never fall because Jesus cannot fall which is why we lean on Him and see Him through all man and satins clutter as the cornerstone of the church. Yes and thank you Lord for the ones that witness and suffer so much on Your behalf and for ours.

  Well said Barbara. God bless....

[Guest]

I think that we need to : ............

3 hours ago, Gary david said:

I do believe you are correct. The heart of the church stands unchanged as it always will. The church is not bad and I am sure it has half truths as well.

The heart of The Church is Jesus, it is Love - and as such it can never fail.  It is only eyes gifted with Faith that sees this with clarity and trustful confidence.

 

3 hours ago, Gary david said:

The church is not bad and I am sure it has half truths as well. The church is run by men, influenced by saten im sure in ways that are obvious and not so obvious, but directed by the Holy Spirit.

There is another aspect of The Church and that is the quite human institution and administration, which is set up by men and always has been.  It is this, to my mind, which has to change and a better institution and administration be set up by us.  This is our work directed by The Holy Spirit.

The Church is indeed directed by The Holy Spirit and we in the Laity are The Church just as much as any other vocation - in Grace we too are directed by The Holy Spirit.  I don't think that we can sort of passively fall back on Jesus knowing that He is Victorious.  We have an active part to play and for many of us it may seem like not much of a part or a very small part if that, it is nevertheless ordained by God in His Divine Providence and therefore of paramount importance.

This is another paradox of Catholicism and our Spirituality.