Well, we think it’s funny.
What isn’t funny is the current crisis in faith I’m battling with. Over the last few years, and in particularly over the last six months, as more and more news arises about the atrocities committed by priests, and the subsequent cover-up by the church, my faith in my faith has been rocked. To make matters worse the current pope, Benedict XVI, is found to have covered up the pedophile predilections of a Wisconsin priest who preyed on hundreds of deaf children, not to mention his active participation in cover-ups for prey-seeking priests in Germany.
The church’s reaction to this has been to play victim, to blame the media for anti-Catholic bias, and to protect, at all costs, the Pope. A Pope, it should be pointed out, who loses more credibility every day as more and more revelations come forward of his complicity in allowing these priests continued access to children.
New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd — a fellow traveler in faith — has been among the most vocal critics of the church. Normally overly snarky, Dowd has been spot on in a recent series of columns on this issue. A column published during holy week (in which she pointed out that “the church has given up credibility for lent”), and another on April 11 were particularly poignant (and you can find other columns she's written on the subject here, here and here).
The church has a credibility problem that has reached the tipping point, and it seems to either not know it, or not care. I suspect I’m not the only Catholic who manages to find reasons not attend mass on Sunday (last week’s reason: the Flyers – Rangers game was on). When I did attend mass on Easter, my mind continually wandered during the homily to thoughts of how such a large group of well intentioned people could sit there and not feel outraged by what their church, and its leader, were doing.
I struggle with parts of my faith every day. I am a pro-choice Catholic, believe people have a right to practice birth control, and that gay and lesbian members of the church have as much right to marry as the rest of us. I do not believe in the infallibility of the Pope because the Pope is simply a man. I believe the patriarchal chain of authority in the church prevents it from fulfilling the mission Christ chose for it, and that treating women as second class participants has robbed us all of wisdom, not to mention compassion. I believe the church squanders its wealth and good will by not helping the poor enough. And I think the church and its bishops play Russian roulette when they engage in civil politics instead of heeding the words of Jesus to “Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s” (that’s Matthew 22:21 . . . you can look it up).
Through it all I have clung to a belief that I could do some good for my community through the church, and that through communion with my fellow parishioners I could seek and find the peace that only comes from God. But as we find out about more atrocities, I struggle not with my faith in a just God, but with a church that will muster all of its resources and power to remain in control rather than to do what’s right.
On the off chance you’re interested, the Coyotes – Red Wings game will be on TV this Sunday.
