"I stopped going to church"

“I stopped going to church!”

No longer can I accept what has occurred within an institution that allows pedaphil priests to continue their ministry.  The obvious evils that continued for years have now raised its ugly head and an accounting must be brought forward.  

This is the confession of a man who was a staunch Roman Catholic attending Mass every Sunday, shared the beliefs of the church and I would think acknowledged the truths of the Eucharist.  

A woman I worked with at a trade school where I taught told me she quit going to Holy Mass.  Her best friend's son was abused by a priest and that was enough for her.   

My wife used to babysit for a close friend who informed my wife her husband completely walked away from the Catholic Church and would only attend for a funeral.  

Three instances that have astounded me since each one is a close confidant and I always admired their tenacity to attend Mass.  Are these new or unfamiliar happenings in our culture today, especially within an institution that survived 2,000 years of what Jesus promised when he said, “And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”   (Mt. 28: 20). 

My friend stated that he still prayed daily and wasn’t denouncing God.  He just felt that the Church was full of self-interested men who really weren't concerned for the people they preached to.  This statement is one that I understand, but do not accept that the church is a mockery when it comes to feeding the flock via truths and Sacred Traditions.

No matter what I told my coworker she would not listen to simple catechesis and not accuse the church for a few bad apples.

As has been the urging from the ministers of the Catholic Church we have gone through scandals throughout history with too many who were not really called to their ministry.  However, there is another aspect we must seriously consider.  One person mentioned that how can God allow a priest to administer sacraments, preach on forgiveness, then go after innocent victims?

When a priest is in the process of offering the Transubstantiation, the Sacrament does not depend on his holiness or lack of it.  It is only the Holy Spirit that descends upon the elements as the priest is just the human being that God has ordained to stand in the place of Christ.  Regardless of the sinfulness of the minister, the validity of the Sacrament remains true.  God uses men to administer sacraments but not to create their reality.

Once anyone joins in the immense backlash being perpetrated on the church we shall experience a disappearance of truths and it will be catholics who have lost their faith that shall reap an ugly harvest.  Jesus said, when the Son of Man returns will he find any faith on the earth?  (Lk. 18: 8).

Ralph B. Hathaway