David Ancell / Sunday October 20, 2002
I’ve received notice of this news analysis of the Vatican decision regarding the Dallas policy on the New York Times. Take a look. Really, I have mixed feelings about it.
It acknowledged that the Vatican does take the sexual abuse problem seriously and that the Vatican has legitimate concerns about the Dallas policy. However, the author appears to bemoan the fact that the Vatican was concerned about the use of lay review boards. It’s almost as though the article views such concerns as a slap in the face for the laity. Maybe it’s just my prejudice regarding the NYT that makes me think this. Feel free to comment.
Three things come to mind:
1. We Americans are not the only people in the Church. The Vatican must take care of the entire Church, and decisions made must be made in view of that light. To the author’s credit, sources were quoted that said just this in different terms.
2. There have been lay people throughout history that were instrumental in reform of the Church, such as St. Catherine of Genoa and St. Catherine of Sienna. Omigosh!! Those two were even women. [begin sarcasm]The church isn’t supposed to listen to women.[end sarcasm] This wasn’t acknowledged at all in the analysis.
3. This paragraph that I will quote pretty much sums a lot of stuff up:
As presented to the Vatican, the policy undercut the church’s image of itself as an institution that gives guidance, rather than beseeching it, and as a source of moral authority, not an instantly flexible instrument responding to public pressure.
This “image” isn’t just the Church’s “image of itself.” This is what God has instituted. Despite the popular media perception, the orthodox Catholics are not conceited individuals who are oblivious to real life. We are believers in a truth that is not of our making. It is a truth that is true not because we believe it, but because it is. We believe because it is true.
Jesus told Peter that whatever he bound on earth would be bound in Heaven and vice versa. The Church’s duty is to live according to the Gospel, no matter how strange it may make us appear to our neighbors who see her or the media who critique her. Our standard is Jesus Christ, not American culture.
Category: Posts imported from Danger! Falling Brainwaves, Uncategorized
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