The Vatican has publicly stated that the Rev. Fernando Karadima was a sexual abuser. In Chile he was a combination Maciel and Fulton Sheen. He apparently was an extraordinarily effective preacher and giver of retreats, although now some suspect he was not simply an abuser, but an atheist.
In such a dreadful situation it is hard to find any ray of light. But the spiritual maturity of some Catholics in Chile has been deeply edifying. I previously quoted Juan Carlos Cruz, a victim.
Here is what Joaquín Lavín, the Minister of Education and a supernumerary of Opus Dei said about the accusations:
Son lamentables, pero la fe es Jesucristo, no es en la persona de un sacerdote.
(they are lamentable, but the faith is in Jesus Christ, not in the person of a priest)
He emphasized:
Lo lamentable de esto es que a veces muchos católicos se ven afectados en su fe. Pero la fe no es en los sacerdotes, es en Jesucristo y eso es lo importante. Cristo no nos desilusiona nunca.
(It is lamentable that at times Catholics are affected in their faith. But the faith is not in the priests, but in Jesus Christ and that is what is important. Christ will never disappoint).
The Jesuit Fernando Montes, rector of the University Albert Hurtado called Karadima a “dictator” and said that this condition “favored an environment for committing the abuses.” Montes explained
There is in the church a danger of sacralization, that the person in authority is not just an authority, but is transformed into a sacred being, who cannot be touched, who cannot be criticized, and in this sense there can be an enormous oppotunity to redefine the way of exercising authority.
Montes said that this
“divinization can produce a dictator. Spiritual direction, instead of a respectful accompanying to say “that you are sad and I will help you,” is converted into “I tell the other person what he has to do.” This appears to be aberrant because it produces a leadership with dependency, in circumstances in which the Gospel requires a leadership of service.”
The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.
And some priests still support him. I am hoping that Karadima is sent to jail.
Wow, powerful words from Fr. Montes re: the divinization of persons. In clericalism, I find the same attitude as the cultural attitudes in India, of which I am familiar through family ties, where anyone in authority can never be questioned. I am convinced that this attitude leads to terrible injustices.
I have often heard it repeated that we should not place our Faith in men by way of a defensive consolation towards others who have been deeply hurt by the abuse scandal. This is just common sense!
However, the previous Papacy was mired in a public relations campaign which deified the Papacy and the priesthood in general..The late Dr William Marra wrote an excellent piece on Papolatry which he was seeing amongst Catholics.
http://www.cfnews.org/MarraPop.htm
Along with Papolatry the New Movements like the Legion and Opus Dei add fuel to this mindset with a type of priest worship which has made the clerical scandal even more of a shock to the laity.
Parents sent their boys off to the Legion boarding schools who were convinced by visiting Legion priests who flattered them into thinking that their sons of thirteen and fourteen years old had vocations to the priesthood! They were told it meant a,”…. special place in heaven for the mothers of these future priests.”
Elementary school children in South America are interviewed on a series of Spanish youtube videos after obviously being edified or conditioned to the notion of a superior life in Opus Dei. young nine and ten yr old girls state they want to become chaste numeraries and live and work for and in opus dei houses, rather than choosing marriage and family life.
“It is easier to use the network of Opus Dei schools and the atmosphere of supernumerary homes to convince children of fifteen or even younger that God calls them to total, lifelong dedication” “Also, A Parents’ Guide to Opus Dei has been written by J. J. M. Garvey [10] and translated to several other languages.”
http://www.odan.org/tw_evolution_of_opus_dei.htm
It seems parental common sense has been overshadowed by what some consider religious fervor.
An alleged mystic by the name of Mother Vogle, who is referred to in the The Pieta Prayerbook, was often quoted condemning those who spoke about clerical scandal. There is no record of any Mother Vogle actually existing.
An honest look at the history of the Papacy reveals the many anti popes and bad Popes the institutional church has endured throughout the centuries.
Respect for the clerical vocation and title is much different then believing another human is above reproach, above the law or even more holier than any other human being. Only Christ reads hearts, while we are left to judge deeds and words.
Robert Sungenis has a very interesting article on Papolatry at http://www.catholicintl.com. it is an excellent smmary of why we should not put our priests or popes on a pedestal.
Well said Mary. I’ll have to look more into Opus Dei. For years I’ve thought the Legion was loopey (though many of the people drawn to it quite good) but I’ve had positive experiences with lay people and priests in Opus. They haven’t hit me as having the “cookie cutter” personalities of pre-2007 legionaries (the legionaries I’ve met seem a lot looser now).
Father, opus is based on the pyramidal structure of masonry, and while they attract solid vocations into the priesthood and sincere Faithful into the organization, these priests go to Lay Spiritual Directors. So, as one priest recently asked me, “Who is really at the top, and what is the real agenda?”
The fact that they lie about their recruitment tactic sand target the rich and the intellectuals, attests to something much different then what Christ exemplified in His Life.
Cardinal Ugo Poletti was Escriva’s friend and Postulator for his Cause. Today the Italian equivalent of our FBI are searching for answers to his connection with the Magliani Mafi, and Poletti’s name was also discovered on the membership list of clerical masons in the 1976 raid on the Propaganda Due Lodge . He was a longtime close friend of Esvriva’s.
The clerical cult of personality has been operative and consitituent to the institutional church for hundreds of years. Look where it has gotten us. When simple souls say that their real faith is in Jesus, despite the priests, they minimize the core problem and enable it to continue.
Simple souls for the most part have access to the internet now so things can go several different ways. The faithful can and should demand more of the institutional church to rectify all the abuses such as theological inconsistancies, clerical misconduct and financial improprieties or more Catholics will walk away en masse. Many have and may just lose their faith in everything catholic which is a tragedy.
The solutions rest with the Vatican which has many opposing factions within and even more without. The prelates move slowly while access to information is moving ever more quickly.It is a real dilemma for the institution.
Who what and when will clean it all up in an effort of real unity with Christ’s Truths? Or will the opinion’s of secular humanists, greed and politics continue to take the New Order of the church in a totally different direction?
Introduction
The recent controversy over a Mexican “gay Catholic ministry” called the San Elredo Comunidad or the Lesbian and Gay Community of San Elredo, an official organ of the Diocese of Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico, headed by Dominican Bishop José Raúl Vera López, O.P., illustrates how well these politically-based and politically motivated Trojan horses serve the Homosexual Collective, as opposed to serving God, the Catholic Church, and the individuals caught up in the vice of sexual perversions who need to be extricated from the Collective.
The San Elredo Community is an “inclusive” ministry which caters to male homosexuals, lesbians, bisexuals, transsexuals, transgenders, transvestites, leather and bondage devotees, sadomasochists, and a sundry of other “sexual orientations.” It was founded in 2002 by former New York publicist, Robert F. Coogan, who was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Saltillo by Bishop Vera López.
read more
http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/engel/110426