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Wednesday, August 1, 2018

The McCarrick Case and Future of the Church

In his article, Last Rights: Canon Law in a Mirror of Justice Cracked, Father Gordon MacRae stated: 
It’s not just priests who worry about being removed from ministry and tossed on the streets. It’s all ironic because bishops, in one sense, have even fewer rights enshrined in law than priests about these things.
Archbishop Emeritus of Washington Theodore McCarrick was accused of child sexual abuse that allegedly happened a decade ago.  The cardinal is 88 years old.  From 2001 to 2006, McCarrick helped developed church policies to protect children from sexual abuse within the Church.  Nevertheless, he was not immune, and he also was charged with child sexual abuse. Responding to the alleged child sexual abuse, Cardinal McCarrick claimed that he was innocent.  You can read McCarricks response to the sexual abuse allegations here 

An anonymous poster brought a story of Cardinal McCarrick to my attention. You can read the full story here. I will not publish the entire story in this post, but what caught my attention in the story was the following statement: 

A friend said this week that the McCarrick scandal might be the final nail in the coffin of “beige cultural Catholicism” in America. 
He meant that the scandal could lead to much broader recognition that much about the current model of Church organization and parish management doesn’t seem to be working- that many people leave the practice of Catholicism because of a broad crisis in catechesis, formation, and community and parish life. 
This idea was part of the thrust of John Paul II’s “new evangelization” paradigm, which called Catholics to “remake the Christian fabric of the ecclesial community itself.” 
It is certainly true that the growth areas in the Catholic Church in America are those that seem to have a clear missionary identity, or a particularly focused or intentional approach to Catholic life. Movements like Communion and Liberation and the NeoCatechumenal Way are loci of growth and energy. So too are missionary groups like FOCUS, and the communities devoted to traditional liturgy that have sprung up in places like Clear Creek, Oklahoma. 
Those movements are often lay-led, and developed at some distance from chancery and diocesan structures. That means that, if trust in the hierarchy is eroding, they may be seen by many Catholics as having the integrity, authenticity, or transparency that some see as lacking among hierarchs in the wake of the McCarrick scandal. 
The question now is, if decline in more typical parishes continues or hastens, whether bishops will see those groups and movements as mechanism of the “new evangelization” and welcome them, even at the cost of relinquishing some institutional and structural control.
I smiled when I read the above statement made in the Catholic News Agency.  The Catholic Church can never be destroyed because Christ promised He will be with His Church until the end of time. However, Christ has a way of purifying His Church.  Perhaps, the opponents of the Catholic Church should have paid more attention to the prophecy made by Cardinal Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) of what the future Catholic Church would look like after it has been purified by God.  According to Ratzinger's prediction (the bold is mine):
Ratzinger said he was convinced the Church was going through an era similar to the Enlightenment and the French Revolution. “We are at a huge turning point – he explained – in the evolution of mankind. This moment makes the move from Medieval to modern times seem insignificant.” Professor Ratzinger compared the current era to that of Pope Pius VI who was abducted by troops of the French Republic and died in prison in 1799. The Church was fighting against a force which intended to annihilate it definitively, confiscating its property and dissolving religious orders. 
Today's Church could be faced with a similar situation, undermined, according to Ratzinger, by the temptation to reduce priests to “social workers” and it and all its work reduced to a mere political presence. “From today's crisis, will emerge a Church that has lost a great deal,” he affirmed. 
“It will become small and will have to start pretty much all over again. It will no longer have use of the structures it built in its years of prosperity. The reduction in the number of faithful will lead to it losing an important part of its social privileges.” It will start off with small groups and movements and a minority that will make faith central to experience again. “It will be a more spiritual Church, and will not claim a political mandate flirting with the Right one minute and the Left the next. It will be poor and will become the Church of the destitute.”  

23 comments:

  1. Wikipedia now puts Guam’s Catholic at 75%. It used to be 85%. So, Catholics in Guam are leaving the Church despite that we have a new Archbishop on Guam and despite the transparency in the Archdiocese.

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    1. Wikipedia is not a reliable source for information.

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    2. Dear Jane Doe,

      The consistent attacks against the Church by Tim Rohr and CCOG caused many Catholics to leave the Church. As long as they continue to attack the Church, many more will lose trust and leave. Look for example at the attack on Kamalen Karidot by CCOG. They claimed that money from Kamalen Karidot was inappropriately used to purchase vehicles. To this day, CCOG have not brought any evidence to back up their claim, but the damage was already done.

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    3. Don't know if 85% to 75% is true. There are many reasons for Catholics to leave the Church. Change in leadership and policies will not instantly increase Catholic percentage from 75%.

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    4. Dear Anonymous at 11:09 am,

      The information from Wikipedia was taken from a survey. According to the Guam Daily Post:

      “Local Catholic clergymen and laypeople, supported by the Archdiocese of Guam, are seeking solutions from a declining island faithful flock.

      A survey circulating local chat groups and social media platforms states that “in several recent presentations, Archbishop Michael Byrnes has advised that Catholic baptisms, Catholic weddings, Catholic school enrollment and even church attendance is down while Guam’s population has increased.”

      The survey alleges that less than 50 percent of Guam’s population presently identifies as Catholic, and calls for the collaboration of the remaining “folks in the pew, to present our thoughts and have some input in our future.”

      According to the 2010 Census, Guam’s population of 159,358, at the time, rounded out to about 75 percent Roman Catholic and 17 percent Protestant, with the remainder identifying as other denominations.”

      https://www.postguam.com/news/local/survey-poll-declining-catholic-flock/article_aebdfa36-1847-11e8-baaf-df0c8ca90814.html

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    5. The Catholics can leave the church for a number of reason, but things happening in Guam’s church today isn’t going to help Catholics to stay.

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  2. Sweet blog! I found it while surfing around on Yahoo News.
    Do you have any tips on how to get listed in Yahoo News?
    I've been trying for a while but I never seem to get there!
    Many thanks

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    1. Dear Anonymous at 11:38 am,

      I am sorry. I cannot help with that.

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  3. If small communities is the answer to the declining church attendance, that may be one reason why JW has been trying to demonize the NCW by linking it to the sex abuse scandal. Movements such as the Way have proven to be successful in bringing people closer to Christ. There are many church organizations in Guam, but the Way has been thriving.

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    1. Dear Anonymous at 1:49 pm,

      The jungle have also accused the NCW of trying to gain political power, which is nonsense. They are trying to fool the people into thinking that it was the NCW who placed Telena Nelson in the Guam Legislature. There are only 800-1000 members of the NCW in Guam, and some of them cannot even vote. It only takes common sense to see that Ms. Nelson was indeed elected by the people of Guam fair and square.

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    2. And likewise this BLOG is trying to fool the people that the Almifhty TIM ROHR is to blame for all the trouble our church is going through.

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    3. Dear Anonymous at 5:57 pm,

      Let the facts speak for itself: The NCW was not the one who introduced and supported a bill that would leave the door open for possible scammers to strip the Catholic Church of all its assets in the guise of alleged victims of sex abuse. Tim Rohr and the Junglewatch Nation did that on their own.

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    4. Diana, at least the bill will allow closure to some victims. The situation here on Guam is no different from the ones in New York or Chile. I say, let justice take its course and then we will see who really are the scammers. The only question I have is why did Apuron and Cristobal left and refuse to come back to Guam to face the allegations. Please do not use the excuse that they have been judged and found guilty by the people of Guam. Peace.

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    5. Dear 5EE445, 

      Justice???? What justice are you talking about when the Church planned to settle out of court without investigating whether the allegations are true or not? There is no justice without truth. It is not an excuse that their right to due process was taken away from them in Guam.

      Then again, there is the prediction made by Cardinal Ratzinger about the future church. When the lawsuits reach 1000, there will be no structure left. But the NCW will still be around. As you already know, the NCW can have its word celebration and conviviences in the Asan Center....a property which the Archdiocese cannot touch. On the other hand, whatever assets is given to the Archdiocese to rebuild will be given to the lawsuits. As long the law exists, 50 or even 100 years from now the lawsuits will continue to be filed against the Church. And the priests named in these lawsuits will be deceased.

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    6. Yep. The Seminary is up for sale for 7 million dollars. 7 mil. isn't enough to cover 200 lawsuits. We got lawsuits coming out this year. Next year, there will still be more lawsuits cuz of the love of money. It's going to be a matter of time before the parishes and schools get on the chopping block. Then what? Rebuild?

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  4. That bill will NOT give closure.It only feeds greed.Even if some of the cases were true.Giving them money isn't going to help them for what happened.The memory and their hate and anger will still be there.Money will not give them the strength to get over that.I'm pretty sure most of the cases were made up so folks could sue for extra cash.But if there happens to be a few real ones those people need spiritual healing.Not cash.Just like when a female rape victim conceives and gets an abortion to forget about the rape.But it doesn't change the traumatic event does it? It doesn't get rid of their frustration and anger.The abortion only creates a new traumatic event.Hurting oneself and the innocent one.
    Sadly in the future there WILL be more accusations.Because people worship mammon.Rohr made a big mistake introducing and supporting that bill.They are happy now because of what happened to the Seminary.But Guam is going to get worse in the future due to this bill and I'll tell you why.First our seminary,then after that like anon @ 9:15 pm stated the Archdiocese will have no choice but to start chopping parishes and schools because the costs will just get higher and higher.Rohr and JW hate us.But do they realize that this will eventually affect non neo buildings too? In an attempt to harm the way JW has done something that will soon harm the church on Guam IN GENERAL.

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  5. It is unfortunate that our past church leaders did not address this issue. We can argue all we want but the bottom line is, victims have an avenue to avenge what some clergy members did to them. If they can't go through the criminal process then they have the civil process to avenge their experiences. I also have to disagree with Diana. The church will hear every allegations and I believe there is a group that will determine whether the accusations are substantiated. Both sides will have the opportunity to state their case. Peace.

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    1. Dear 5EE445, 

      Do you really think "revenge" will heal them???? Who taught you this? Did anyone teach you that revenge is morally wrong?

      Obviously, you do even know what "settle out of court" means? It is a waste of time if you do not even know what it means. It is also clear that you were most likely off-island in 2011 when Archbishop Apuron announced that all people come forward if they were sexually abused by the clergy. No one came forward at the time. You must also have been off-island at the time when Archbishop Apuron defrocked Father Ray Cepeda.

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    2. Dear 5EE445 - your blowing hot air. Sorry.



      Gino - Sinajana

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  6. Excuse me 5EE445 the bottom line is NOT vengeance.

    Vengeance isn't healing.Vengeance helps no one.The only way an individual can get over those experiences is through Jesus Christ.Giving them money is NOT going to help them.Their anger will still be there.Revenge gives no good fruit.Period.
    The REAL bottom line is that many buildings will end up being gutted because scammers will take advantage of this bill and they already have.

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    1. I am not advocating vengeance. I am just saying that people who are wronged have an alternative venue to address their experiences. People are not perfect, all of us have flaws. That is why we have a justice system. If you have the purest of heart to forgive and try to live the way of the lord then I applaud you. Peace.

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  7. I am constantly thought about this, thanks for putting
    up.

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  8. Everyone is so caught up with the building/s. Jesus did not say to put up edifices. The Reign of God is to be found in you and in each other. that is why, Jesus distributed the loaves and fishes not in a temple or building but on the foot of the foot of the mount/wilderness as a sign that there is so much to do outside the walls of our churches, seminaries, houses.

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