Nickolas Kristof writes in Thursday’s New York Times about the cold hearted, bureaucratic and out of touch Catholic Church as another voice of compassion is silenced in the name of rigid dogmatic lunacy.
The furor over the newest revelations in the ongoing abuse scandal inside the Catholic Church has reached yet another level in media coverage. The story has been covered as two distinct elements: the crime and the cover up. As time goes on the crime becomes almost banal. Few things are as universally condemned as evil like pedophilia. Even the most hardened amongst us cannot help but blanch at the description of such acts. Given our shared disdain for such behavior, it cannot surprise that the cover up receives more attention, especially when the pope is involved. In addressing the cover up, facts, innuendo and accusations hold more nuance generating greater debate. This does not meant we should forget the criminal acts. Just as important as the crime is the question of why it occurred. Gruesome acts may be too easily dismissed as evil. Because something is difficult to understand does not mean we should not attempt to understand it.
Andrew Sullivan has written several detailed articles in his blog about the reasons that priests are driven to commit acts of pederasty. (Also, see this article from last week.) He addresses the Catholic Church with respect to the treatment of homosexuality, the denial of human nature, the arrested emotional development of the abuser coinciding with the age of those molested, the insular and secretive nature of the church and more. After reading Sullivan’s articles I realized that evil is not beyond comprehension and it is not beyond our ability to prevent. More specifically it is not beyond the ability of the Catholic Church to stop. Prevention does require the Catholic Church to recognize the nature of human sexuality, allow for priests to marry, and accept homosexuals as God’s children and not as an abomination. These crimes can be prevented from happening again, but I doubt the Catholic Church is brave enough to take the necessary steps to fix them. For now the Church’s biggest problem is its inability to face its own existential flaws and admit its fault in all the pain and suffering its has and continues to inflict.
I considered addressing the ongoing self-destruction occurring in the Catholic Church in communities all over the world. I intended to focus on the mass delusions created within the cult that is the Catholic Church. Instead Johann Hari of the The Independent beat me to it. The factual record goes beyond what Mr. Hari highlights and I would encourage anyone to investigate further into this story. Mr. Hari does go the heart of the moral, religious, and logical absurdities present in this continuing tragedy and is worth a read.
