There were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will introduce destructive heresies and even deny the Master who ransomed them, bringing swift destruction on themselves.
Many will follow their licentious ways, and because of them the way of truth will be reviled.2 Peter 2: 1 – 2
Before you jump to conclusions, I want to begin with the fact that I am defending my church, NOT the awful and disgusting beings that did absolutely heinous acts and used the church to cover it up.
Being a millennial Catholic is really hard. Simply because there has been a stigma around the church because of the acts of bad people using a good religion to try and get away with hurting people. Let me be clear, God did not commit this awful abuse, God did not cover up the thousands of children who were hurt, God did not LET this happen. God gave the human race free will, and God does everything He can to protect us. But as humans, we still have the choice between God and the Devil. The bad things that happen in the world are not God letting them happen, it is the Devil making it happen. There is no denying the Devil has power. And while God has the all mighty power, He uses his as responsibility. A mindset of responsibility instills a sense of serving, while a mindset of power simply grows an ego.
In all circumstances, hold faith as a shield, to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
Ephesians 6: 16
When people enter into the vocation of Holy Life, they are given a responsibility. The responsibility to be God’s hands in this world, to help, to be trusted. The good ones know that, they serve the church, they serve the world in the name of Jesus Christ. But the ones who don’t have that goodness in their soul, they see this vocation as a way to have power. They abuse it. They see an opportunity and they take it. This does not only happen in the Catholic Church though. This happens in every religion. This happens in schools. This happens in youth groups. This happens in homes. This happens EVERYWHERE.
Do not blame the Catholic Church as a whole for the faults of evil people. The men (though they don’t deserve that title) who committed the abuse, the ones that covered it up, the ones who turned the other way, they are at fault.
This should not go ignored, this should not be swept under the rug or forgotten about, this should be an eye opener about the difference between responsibility and power.
No position on this earth gives a human being the access to power. Power is a mindset. Power is not something someone physically can possess. It cannot be given, it cannot be taken away. Because when someone has a mindset of power, they will have that no matter where they are at in life. It feeds the ego, it makes someone think that they can do whatever they want. This usually comes out in people when they are put in a position where they have the trust of lots of people, this fault is already a part of them. But these positions don’t take power, they take responsibility.
Responsibility changes the mindset from “I can do this” to “I should do this.” It is about serving rather than taking, helping rather than dictating. This is the difference between good leaders and bad leaders, or more simply the difference between good people and bad people.
So let me break down what I believe is the basic situation behind the scandal: The people who were involved believed that because their position enabled them to automatically have trust, that meant they had power and the ones left to clean up their mess and be judged for those wrong doings are the ones that believe their position is a responsibility to serve the people that do trust them, and serve the ones that don’t trust them.
We know that we belong to God, and the whole world is under the power of the evil one.
1 John 5: 19
I pray every night for those who have been let down by those they have trusted and been abused in turn for that trust. They have experienced things that no human should have to experience. I am so sorry you were failed by humanity.
The people of the church, the ones that understand we have a responsibility to share God and to serve in His name, thank you for coming together. For showing a united front. For knowing the difference between those who truly want to serve the Catholic Church and the evil that is being convicted of their crimes (and the ones that aren’t but should be).
To those of you who have given up on the Catholic Church, I pray that you find the peace you are seeking, but that you don’t give up on God.
Every institution in this world since the beginning of time has dealt with those who only seek to bring ruin to them. And the church is no different. Don’t let those who think they have power corrupt you to believe that those who know they have responsibility, are the evil ones too.