Scandals, abuse, and homosexual desecration of the church – Déjà vu?

The situation with the Church today is staggering and concerning. It seems as reports continue coming out about sex abuse by clergy, abuse of power, theology concerns, and now…. homosexual desecration of a church that appears to have been accepted by church leadership.

There have been 4,392 Catholic priests accused of sexual abuse. That amounts to 4 percent of the total Catholic priests in active ministry (109,694 are currently active – give or take from the time of this writing) To add on top of that, we now have bishops illegally ordaining women into the priesthood and priests advocating for such a change. Additionally, we currently just saw where a Montreal Catholic Church was desecrated by homosexual actions being performed inside the church. (and yet, Jesuit Fr. James Martin is silent on this as of the time of this writing).

Déjà vu for the Church? It seems that way. Let’s take a walk down history lane shall we?

The 16^th century kicked off a tidal wave of events that led to the Protestant Reformation. Among these issues and events were greed, abuse, scandals within the Church, unacceptable lifestyles of the clergy, and a negligent leadership of the parishioners needs. However, one of the other key aspects of the Protestant Reformation was a disagreement and dispute about theology. Now, we all know what happened from there. We see the beginning of the Protestant movement. The growth of the Protestant church because millions of Catholics rebelled against the Church and became Protestant.

That does not seem like such a major issue. After all, the Catechism even calls Protestants our “brothers in the Lord” and “Christians”. (CCC 818) However, the Catechism is specific that it does not apply to those who willfully separated and caused division in the Church, for which the Church says were “damnable”. (CCC 817) That is why we must be ever the more adamant about defending the faith and the teachings of the Church.

Imagine a world without the Eucharist? Without adoration? Without the intercession of your patron saint? Without the peace felt after confession? This is what happened when the Protestant Reformation took place. When sin, scandals, and corruption ran rampant in the Church then Protestants now grow up without the essentials of having the relationship with Jesus that Catholics are able to have.

That seems eerily similar to what we face today with an estimated one out of three Catholics are considering leaving the Catholic Church because of the sex scandals alone. Those numbers do not include those now considering because of the homosexual desecration and other LGBTQ issues.

However, for those who stood up for theology, who rode out the corruption scandals and spent unlimited hours praying, those are the saints who were able to maintain the faith and preserve it for you and for me. Now, those saints are counting on us to do the same. Pray for the Church, pray for the protection of the theology and for God to intervene.

There are three things every parishioner can do in order to ride this wave of scandals and protect the teachings that Christ gave personally to the apostles, which has been handed down to us to protect:

1.)    PRAY – Never underestimate the importance of prayer. This is Jesus’ Church and He will protect it. He will always up hold it. Join with the saints to pray for the Mother Church and those in leadership.

2.)    KNOW – How much do you really know of your faith? I’m not asking how many kneelings, standings and sittings you know during Mass or how many Catholic prayers you know. How much of the Church teachings and WHY we believe what we believe do you know? You cannot defend the faith if you do not know the faith. Learn what we believe and why we believe it. Read the Bible. Read the Catechism. Be educated – and then move mountains to defend it.

3.)    WRITE- Never hesitate to write your church leadership. For those you know are good shepherds, let them know they are appreciated and encourage them to keep up the work which God has put them there to do. For those who are NOT good shepherds, write them telling them you are praying for them (make sure you are praying) and then advocate for a change in leadership if that abuse, scandal, or sin injures the Church as a whole and if a change is in the best interest of the Church.

There you have it. Now, get off social media and start being a saint.