Too many clerics, over too many years, using the Church as their evil playground.
PopeWatch: Rigged Game
Donald R. McClarey
Cradle Catholic. Active in the pro-life movement since 1973. Father of three, one in Heaven, and happily married for 41 years. Small town lawyer and amateur historian. Former president of the board of directors of the local crisis pregnancy center for a decade.
Over three and a half decades ago I learned in AA and Alanon meetings that you don’t stay with an abusive spouse or parent. You get up and leave. The current Institutional Church is NOT what I entered early in sobriety under the tutelage of my Catholic AA sponsor and his sponsor who became my priest-confessor. Until Pope Francis is deposed and anathematized or dead AND replaced by a God-fearing Pontiff, I for one will NOT darken the door of a Novus Ordo Parish. Yes, I realize Bishop Strickland told us NOT to abandon the Church. But the Institution that has usurped the name of Catholic is NOT the Church that I joined. NOT! Pope Francis and all his appointed clerics hate people like me: patriotic American, supporter of Free Enterprise, opposer of infanticide and LGBTQ ideology, disbeliever in the fiction of anthropogenic global warming, contemputous of environmentalism, etc., but more importantly, someone who accepts the plain language of Sacred Scripture and values Sacred Tradition. So as far as I am concerned, NO more abuse. What ridiculous fallacy it is say, “I will stay with an abusive parent because I deserve to suffer.” That’s NOT heroic. That’s masochistic and suicidal.
The Church is infinitely more than this momentary blip of a bum Pope.
I’d suggest the Eastern rites.
Evil men drove good men out of public office, the FBI, the public schools, the list goes on.
Some good men remain there and their example does some good, perhaps even great good.
The critical difference is that none of those organizations were given a guarantee by Our Lord.
The Catholic Church in her members is currently vapid, duplicitous, uncivil, vindictive, ignorant, and tyrannical. However, Christ’s Church is His Body. He has promised not to abandon it.
Certainly, take a rest from the often careless and irreverent Mass offered in all too many Novus Ordo parishes. But return to the fight. The simple act of prayer and reverence at a Mass will be used by God for someone there. Of that I am and must be confident.
HOLD FAST.
The current stupidity of the world/church offers an opportunity to correct the weak and foolish in a parish. It has never been this easy to be right. When the evil clown says do this or that just do the opposite. Genius. We got a new bishop recently in SW Michigan. He has been silent on the Strickland issue. I see him in December. Watch for fireworks
In complete agreement with Bruised Optimist.
I will never risk eternity because of the misbehavior of some clerics, no matter how high the office. Some would rather starve than eat Swiss cheese simply because it has holes in it. Keep your eyes on the good nutrition and ignore the spiritual holes.
I’d suggest the Eastern rites
The Eastern rites masses are traditional. Yes. However don’t think for a minute that the Eastern rites clergy are free from scandal and corruption. I could tell you stories about some clergy in one particular Maronite parish who embezzled church money, displayed covert homosexual behaviour, inappropriate behaviour with a female parishioner, one seminarian left because of things he saw in the seminary….all of these handled by the bishop by moving the priest on…
And another the time I recall in the 1980’s and 1990’s the clergy from the St Charbel’s Order which ran a school named in St Charbel’s name (who were meant to be modelling their life on St Charbel’s poverty, humility and piety) were all driving around in their own brand new Mercedes cars until the parents became irate about what their school fees were being used for. Now they all drive simple Japanese made cars…Bless.