I am sure that you have all heard by now what is going on within the Catholic Church and the abuse rocking it. As a Catholic I struggle with this. I, in fact, grew up in a church where the priest was involved in a scandal years later. It turned out that he had an affair with a woman and she said he had fathered her child. In the end he was not the father and she actually had affairs with several priests over the years. You can read about it here.
I didn’t follow the trial very much because I felt that it had tainted my memory of him. I was in my teens at the time and I remembered him being one of the nicest priests I had ever met. He always seemed to have time for any questions or concerns. In fact, he had dinner at our home several times throughout the years. I am in no way saying what he did was okay even though his affair was with a grown woman and not an abuse sort of scandal. I remember my father saying at the time, that he was only human and humans make mistakes. He wasn’t infallible.
I now feel that was about the church. They made a mistake, a lot of mistakes. However the church is made up of men who are human and not infallible. They should have done the right then but in their zealousness to maintain an image they let down not only their congregation but their faith as well. They let themselves down. So where does that leave me as a Catholic?
I honestly don’t know. All I can do is put my faith in God and hope that the church takes the steps needed to ensure that this never happens again. I would love to see them take the steps to make this right but I just don’t know if they can at this point. How do they make something like this right? Is there any way to move beyond it? Church laws and rules have to be changed even though that is easier said than done. Years of dogma has allowed things like to happen with those in power turning a blind eye. Lord willing they will no longer do that.
I have struggled with my faith for a number of years. Now it seems that I have found my way back only to have that faith shaken to the core again. Where I go from here with it is up in the air. I have been working my way though the betrayal I feel. However I’m not sure I have the right to feel that way. In the end I am sorry and pray for the victims of this horrible tragedy. That is what all of this is, tragedy for everyone involved all around.
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I am so glad I read this article! My husband and I were out and about today and stopped by and our parrish to just say a prayer. We remain believers. Our church is our church and there are so many mistakes that have been made. At this point we have decided to continue with our faith and believe Jesus and God with work their power on the Church and her people.
Alice,
I am so glad that you and your husband are continuing your faith and belief in Jesus and God. All we can do is pray that our church understands their errors and does everything within their power to not make the same mistakes going forward.
I have learned through the years that God is so different than what we have been taught. Religion is merely man devising to control the masses with ideology that favors the elite and wealthy. Religion is a multi-billion dollar industry and as of lately in America, religion has became more political. God is love. Love in it’s purest form can be found by the hug of a child or the lick to the cheek by a dog.
I couldn’t agree more! I love my church and what it means to me but in the end God is much more important.
The devil hates The Church and Priests because through their hands, and The Holy Spirit, mere bread and wine is changed into The Body and Blood of Jesus. The Priests have far more temptations thrown at them and desperately need our prayers. The victims of abuse need our prayers….AND they need justice done to the priests who have abused them. It is NOT Church Dogma that is in the wrong tho….it is not following that Dogma that has brought so much of this about. Remember, our Lord in The Bible said the “The gates of hell will NOT prevail” against The Church. God bless you for being true to your Faith. Hang in there!
Thank you and you’re right it’s not Church Dogma so much as policy that needs to be changed. Silence can no longer be the accepted norm on anyone’s part.
interesting to read
Today there are so many “dead churches” unfortunately my work schedule i can not go to church but i still have my faith and i can watch my church live on facebook. But yes my opinion is you can always take your faith with you it doesn’t just go if u go to church or not
Thank you for your post. I left the church for this reason and other reasons. My faith actually grew stronger once I did this. Now- I tell people that I have a personal relationship with My Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ……outside of organized religion.
You’re welcome. I am glad that your faith grew. faith is something that I struggle with at times but a struggle that I welcome.
This is an interesting post, and I feel for your dilemma. I am not Catholic, but have left the church of my own youth for reasons similar to what is going on now with the Catholic church. I hope you and I and all of us find peace.
Disturbing to so many, and I feel leadership has come nowhere close to addressing with this issue effectively. I know so many who are so disappointed.
I can relate so much to your post. I left the Catholic church and am now born again in spirit……full of faith outside of the church. There are many of us who reconnected with god- and our faith- once we left organized religion. Best of luck to you on your journey.
Oops….I am commenting for the stocking stuffer giveaway and just realized that I commented before. I guess I am drawn to this post. I will comment on a life post instead. Sorry about that.
What a sad situation for all involved. It’s a stark reminder of the way that sin pollutes our lives. Sometimes it’s hard to separate church and faith, but it’s dangerous to put all our hopes in other people. Humans will always disappoint and let us down. Instead, we have to look to the Father, who never fails.
My husband is Catholic I am not. I have a hard time with the Catholic faith. I have always thought if priests ere allowed to marry as in other denominations it would help. If they choose to remain celibate, they remain that way by choice.
I find it sad so many priests are moved when others no full well what is happening. It has happened in our town many times.
I an sure there is plenty more that will “finally” come out.
Ok! I have two parts to this, I think.. First I think that if a priest wants to have a relationship, why not but he should be able to get married and still hold a title , because most don’t want to because they will lower themselves. Now should a NUN be the same, do they have rights to get married after taking their vows and get married, will they still be Nuns.. Second ‘ I don’t trust any priest, not even the Pope, probably more so the Pope.. I do put my faith in my Father Jesus Christ. Out GOD, The Holy Spirit.. but man, never……….. I say this on two notes……… I have seen priest of all sorts do the unthinkable, Its One of the biggest reasons why my brother took his own life, he felt ashamed. Second, they are just like you and I , nothing special, but they gave vows……….. I give vows every day, does that put me in cloth, nope………… I can go on but , i’ll end it hear, my story can get much bigger than this, All I can say is we all need to trust and have faith in GOD.. Only he can make that difference to what is right!! who are we to judge…
@tisonlyme143
I actually think that something like that is fine if it is with a grown adult. And for the record I was a Catholic.
Interesting read. Such a sad day that we live in. We look up to our priest not really knowing what they are doing behind closed doors.