Former Priest Solicited by McCarrick Speaks Out
We can pray that this latest scandal of a high level cleric will make those in charge accountable, but it's not likely. Read the article and see how McCarrick, the pharisee, told his priests they would be responsible for their own defense if accused of abuse knowing full well that he was absolutely guilty. So he had all the resources of his diocese to defend himself, but any innocent priest facing a false accusation from a money-grubbing liar with a grudge would be on his own. Great spiritual father, eh?
It would be nice to think that NONE of his brother bishops had the least idea of what he was up to in the bedroom...and that the Vatican had NO IDEA WHATSOEVER of the evil behind the charm and smile. You'd have to be an abject idiot to believe that! They were told, they were warned. It was a...what... a THIRTY YEAR "OPEN SECRET?"
I'm so sick of the stench of hidden sins, the persecution of good priests, the lying and persecution of parents who were urged to just shut up about their children's rape for the "sake of the Church."
The only reason I'm still a Catholic is that it's the true Church founded by Jesus Christ.
Pretty big reason, isn't it?
It's only in the Catholic Church where I can receive the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus in the Eucharist. It's only in the Catholic Church where I can confess my sins to a priest acting in persona Christi where I can hear the words of absolution and be confident that my sins are forgiven but I've received the grace to strengthen my resolve not to sin again.
The Catholic Church is the Church Christ founded on the rock of Peter and, despite the army of evil men at her helm, she remains STILL the barque of Peter.
When people attack her I can only say, Jesus chose Judas knowing full well he would betray him. Why? So that we would not run away from the Church when we saw the many Judases with their hands in the purse caressing the money that is their real God, running it through their fingers and using it to fill their bellies and lavish gifts on their favorites.
How much did McCarrick spend on pleasure? How much do some of the other bishops? A priest friend once described the "lavish parties" thrown by a priest who was later made a bishop and proceeded to spend a fortune turning his diocesan house into a palace with a climate-controlled wine cellar and working fireplaces in almost every room of the old Victorian mansion -- not to mention his private chef and the fresh flowers delivered daily to adorn his residence. A relative in his new diocese knew some of the men doing the work and described how scandalized they were -- not to mention the scandal to the pew sitters who had to pay for it, many of whom were blue-collar workers.
McCarrick is not going to be the last bishop exposed as a liar and a hypocrite living two lives. And so it behooves us to be as wise as serpents and gentle as doves. Be gentle by praying for the ordained from the baby priests with their wide-eyed idealism to the holy priests committed to their vocations to the cynical priests living a lie. Bad priests may avoid accountability in this world; they won't in the next. Pray for them. Fast for them. But don't trust them.
Know the signs of bad bishops and act accordingly. If your bishop is a dissenter who undermines the teachings of the Church, please don't give him any money! Support your parish development fund (If it's a good parish.) or some other good work: a faithful monastery, a shrine where orthodoxy prevails, the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, an order of nuns like the Poor Clares or the Dominican Sisters of Mary Mother of the Eucharist or the Missionaries of Charity, a faithful seminary, a pregnancy help center, etc. You can fulfill your obligation to give to the support of the Church in many ways. You don't have to fill the coffers of a bishop you can't trust.
And may we all pray for that Springtime of Evangelization Pope John Paul II spoke about so often. So far much of the "evangelization" like the synods on the family and the upcoming youth synod smell nothing like the sweet fragrance of spring -- and more like a sewage treatment plant.
