Crucifying the Church

THIS, of course, has to be expected. The Church, the mystical body of Christ, can’t help but go the way of the man-God who, without sin, assumed all the sins and miseries of men and paid for them by offering his life on the cross.

Crucifixion, in whatever form it takes, will always be a crucial element in the life of the Church. In fact, as in Christ’s life, the crucifixion will be the culminating part that, together with Christ’s resurrection, summarizes everything the Church is mandated to do.

The cross will always be indispensable in our life. Our freedom needs it. There’s no way our freedom can be used well without the cross. The cross gives our freedom its proper grounding and focus.

Without the cross, our freedom, as St. Paul reminds us, can’t help but become “a cover for our sensuality.” (Gal 5,13) We don’t have to look far to validate that observation.

This is how we should look at the painful turn of events the Church is going through at the moment. The scandals that have rocked Ireland, Germany and other European countries, involving members of the clergy and the religious, is another episode in the continuous process of crucifixion of the Church.

The current papal interventions and those of other ecclesiastics are no mere rescue or face-saving operations. They are the attendants of the crucifixion, akin to the scourging, buffeting, spitting, mocking, etc., that Christ received.

But if that crucifixion has to lead to a resurrection in Christ, we all need to learn precious lessons from this crying shame that the Church, in her weak and fragile human aspect, has fallen into nowadays.

And Pope Benedict is doing just that. Exercising his leadership in the Church with determination in these difficult moments, he has just written a letter to the Catholics of Ireland whose content can also be applicable to everyone all over the world.

It’s a beautiful letter that captures the agony of the Church as it bears the sins and failings of men—in this particular case, those of some members of the clergy. The Pope expresses a profound apology to the victims and their families.

But it tries to offer hope and healing and renewal to all parties concerned, without reducing in any way the repulsiveness of the disgrace nor the need for those involved, whether priest or religious, to face the human and temporal consequences of such crimes.

“Openly acknowledge your guilt, submit yourselves to the demands of justice, but do not despair of God’s mercy,” he tells them. Yes, even if human justice is a far cry from divine justice, everyone has to submit himself to it. Christ himself, sinless and unfairly treated as he was, did so.

These words, to me, are a departure from the usual attitude of keeping these problems in confidential disposition. I suppose since things cannot be hidden anymore, the only way to react is to be upfront about them.

We need to find the proper blend between confidentiality and the right of the public to know about these cases, so that the best justice for all can be obtained.

He also tells the bishops that some of them committed blunders in their judgment of the cases brought to their attention. Every bishop should now make a review of the way they handle similar cases.

The Pope now orders special probes in some Irish dioceses and religious congregations. This is a wonderful idea, and I hope this becomes a regular feature, so problems can even be nipped in the bud.

In that letter, the Pope considers both the bigger issues involved and the ugly details, if only to institute the proper curative measures. It tries to go to the root of the problems and offers radical and sweeping solutions.

One portion of that letter which I also like is the enumeration of factors that contribute to the crisis. The Pope mentions:

- Inadequate procedures for determining the suitability of candidates for the priesthood and the religious life;

- Insufficient human, moral, intellectual and spiritual formation in seminaries and novitiates;

- A tendency in society to favor the clergy and other authority figures;

- A misplaced concern for the reputation of the Church and the avoidance of scandal, resulting in failure to apply existing canonical penalties and to safeguard the dignity of every person.

All of us, especially those directly involved, should take the bitter pill. Let’s hope we can emerge from this crisis a better Church, more faithful to Christ. There’s always hope.