a time for humility and penitence in the church...

We spent the past three days feasting with our family. We rejoiced in the good health, vibrant spirit and joyful smile of Anna on her first birthday. We gave thanks to God that she has devoted, loving, disciplined and humble parents. We returned thanks to God for the doctors, nurses and technicians who brought Louie back into the fullness of health this past year, too. 2017 was a time of agonizing uncertainty - and fear - for our family. So, as we all came to live into robust health and love, it felt right to bless little Anna by welcoming her into God's family in the name and grace of Jesus. We were totally ready for feasting: breaking bread,  laughing, sharing stories, prayers and abundant good food is a time-tested way of worshiping what is holy with our bodies - and we did so with gusto.

Upon returning home - and sleeping late the next day - we turned our attention to cutting grass and weeding our garden. I have about 15 pumpkins ripening on the vine. Di has some succulent cukes ready for salad. And the chili peppers are turning red. While I sat in the dirt pulling weeds from the pumpkin vines - and watching fat earth worms wiggle away - the contrast between our little house blessing feast and the on-going horror rocking the American Roman Catholic Church weighed heavy on my heart. I am not suggesting anything except the importance of staying small, grounded and connected to those we love.

Back in 2002, when the Boston Diocese was devastated with revelations of wide-spread rape and sexual abuse by priests, my spiritual director told me, "Perhaps this is the start of the Church's descent into humility. If nothing else, the law suits will finally bankrupt this institution. And then, after a season, maybe the little love of Jesus will return and reign in the Body of Christ." His point was simple: over the centuries, horrible abuse of one type or another has happened before in this religious community (and others) as power and wealth are valued more than compassion and servanthood. When this occurs, the Church kills the spirit and flesh of those it is called to cherish. It becomes an arrogant and cruel institution rather than a community of tenderness. It starts to live like a political and financial power-broker rather than the carpenter from Nazareth.

Many Americans wanted to believe that after the horrors of the Boston diocese were exposed - and addressed in-house and in the courts - things would get better. And, to a certain extent, this has happened. Greater safe guards have been put into place since 2002 and there have been fewer acts of molestation and rape. Some of the codes of silence have also been disrupted, dismantled and discarded. But the news from the Pennsylvania Diocese documents that these changes have been too little and too late. As Pope Francis confessed today: the Church abandoned God's little and vulnerable ones. 

The fundamental flaws in the culture of the Roman Catholic Church guarantee that sexual predators can go undetected - and protected - unless outside forces disrupt the closed system of privilege and secrecy. One news commentator said: We now need 49 other prosecutors in every other state outside of Pennsylvania to go after the institution throughout the USA. This will be painful for everyone. But the rape, molestation, trafficking of children and sexual abuse of children and adolescents has destroyed innocent lives. The sexual predators in the priesthood have violated the trust necessary for living in community. It may be that the only way for deep reform and integrity to emerge in an institution so jaded and removed from the tender love of Jesus is for a fresh start. Already, Roman Catholic laity are asking for the resignation of every US bishop as a sign that corruption will be routed.

This would be an excellent start. But two other realities must be confronted, too. The Jesuit journal, America, recently ran a story hearkening back in 1990, when  scholar A.W. Richard Sipe published:

"A Secret World: Sexuality and the Search for Celibacy," a 25-year study (1960-1985) of the sexual behavior of Catholic clergy. Based on his findings, Sipe concluded that about 50 percent of U.S. priests practiced celibacy at any one time and that about 6 percent -- a figure he later raised to 9 percent -- had sexually abused children. He maintained that the two phenomena were connected, arguing that priests who failed to remain celibate led to hypocrisy and secrecy under which child sexual abuse could occur. His conclusions irritated some within the church, who dismissed them as being based on anecdotal evidence rather than formal research. Others, however, welcomed his work, which they said offered a warning to the U.S. church long before the sexual abuse crisis emerged. (see https://www.americamagazine. org/faith/2018/08/17/aw-richard-sipe-researcher-expert-clergy-sex-abuse-dies-85)

Sipe was eventually dismissed by the Council of American Bishops because his conclusions about celibacy and the Roman Catholic culture of secrecy and privilege were so provocative. He was, however, called as an expert witness in 223 cases of clergy abuse between 1988 and 2010. His witness - and research - make clear that when vulnerable and broken human beings are not held accountable for their actions, all hell breaks loose. It becomes even more evil and vulgar when spiritual privilege and power over innocent bodies and minds are manipulated as has been the case for hundreds of years. In addition to tackling the legacy of secrecy, the Roman Catholic Church is being called by God to find new ways of celebrating a healthy 21st century sexuality - including a radically new appreciation of women in the world of the church. 

Please know I am not demonizing my beloved friends in the Roman Catholic Church. I genuinely love these sisters and brothers. I have been blessed by their wisdom and guidance all of my professional life. I have con-celebrated Eucharist back in the day, learned the way of prayer from Catholic spiritual directors and sung with vigor the Liturgy of the Hours. Perhaps now it is time for the once noble institution to be humbled and start to rebuild from the ground up. Not like the often vitriolic and adolescent arrogant purity of the Protestant Reformation. But rather like St. Peter whom Jesus told after betraying the Lord: when you were young you went where you wanted; but now that you are old, another will gird your loins and lead you into those places you do not want to journey. 

That is my prayer as this day comes to a close.