The Problem is Idolatry
And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.
(Matt. 23:9 KJV)
Bishops and priests being, as they are, God’s interpreters and ambassadors,… it is evident that no nobler function than theirs can be imagined… Justly, therefore, are they called not only Angels, but even gods, because of the fact that they exercise in our midst the power and prerogatives of the immortal God.
(Catechism of the Council of Trent)
i·dol·a·try – noun: 1. idol worship: the worship of idols or false gods
2. extreme admiration: excessive admiration or love shown for somebody or something. (Encarta)
When I first became aware of the extent of the clergy sexual abuse crisis in the Roman Church, I first thought the problem was caused by lust. Then, as I studied the Church and saw that there was a tremendous, organized system of deceit, I thought it was all based on greed. Now at last, I realize that the Protestants were right all along: the source of the problem is idolatry: sheer, satanic pride of the priests, and willingly stupid blind obedience of the people.
It permeates the Church like the very stench of hell. It’s obvious when you finally open your eyes to it: the glorious titles, the reverences, the fancy vestments, the gilded churches. Those are not for God, but for his supposed servants who have twisted the very words of the Bible to glorify themselves. I have no doubt that the verse quoted above has ever been taught in a parochial school. It sure never was in mine.
Worse, not even clergy abuse victims — who should know better if anyone would — are immune. Even after the rapes. Time and time again, I have heard the stories of how victims went to their pastors, their bishops, and were reassured that the offender would be taken care of, sent away, and never allowed near children again. Most of the time these assurances were outright lies. The bishops moved the perps around like pieces on a chessboard, never intending to stop the abuse. All part of the game.
Then those same bishops have the brazen gall to proclaim how very shocked they are, how very sad, minimizing everything except how they need even more donations to pay for it all. And not just the sheeple buy it.
Victims whine, protest loudly, but when thrown a scrap, so many will wallow all over themselves to slobber on the ring. And any priest who dares stand up to the hierarchy they idolize and defend as if he were Christ returned. Any chance to find a “good daddy” again they will take…
Have they completely forgotten how it is that they came to be abused?
By trusting in men who should not have been trusted; by believing that a Roman dog collar put one above the flesh. It was by swallowing the Catholic Church’s Big Lie: that because they were dedicated, celibate virgins, priests were more than just mere men. They were almost angels for having given up so much. Sure, Father might drink too much, he might be rough on the altar boys, but who wouldn’t cut him some slack?
Then, even when the victims found out just how human these guys were, rarely, oh so rarely did they ever stop to think that the entire hierarchy was filled with men just like them. Men who had climbed the corporate ladder by adhering to the party line. Men who depended on their high social status that the robes brought, most of whom would be completely useless outside their cloistered world.
What kind of men? As the old joke says, “men dressed like women, who have no children, but everyone calls them ‘father’”.
Some few saintly types here and there through the ages may have deserved such accolades. Even fewer, however, were untainted by them. For humans, given power, almost always abuse it. Idolatry is neither good for the giver nor the recipient.
For victims to engage in this idolatry is almost suicidal. To give away your power to any person because of a claim to Holy Orders — your pastor, me, the Pope himself — is not being a survivor. It is victim thinking. It is setting yourself up to be taken advantage of yet again.
If that’s what you want, help yourself. Enjoy the comfort of the lies. Everybody’s got the right to go to hell in their own way. Just don’t come crying to me…
However, pride, it is said, goes before a fall. The Catholic Church has built itself up like the Tower of Babel. It has been crumbling for seven hundred years. The collapse will take a while longer, but when it is over, there will be nothing left but dust to shake from one’s feet. The magnificent, horrible edifice that exalted a whole class above the people they were meant to serve shall dissolve, and like the Temple, there shall not be one stone left standing upon another.
And for its bloody sins through the ages, this ruin will have been so righteously deserved. Come, Lord Jesus, soon!