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Roman Catholic Church

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The Roman Catholic Church is the largest single religious denomination in the world today, with an estimated 1.1 billion adherents. Frequently they call themselves just Catholics because they believe that they are the only universal valid Church of Christ; other Christians disagree. Even in Ireland, a relatively conservative country, the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church is increasingly out of touch with what ordinary believing Catholics want. [1]

Contents

[edit] Abuse

That the church does not offer its moralizing with entirely clean hands is obvious to everyone capable of critical thought. Among the morally repugnant activities of its clergy have been the psychological, physical and sexual abuse of persons in its custody. The Magdalene laundries scandal is well known in Ireland. In Spain there is as growing scandal about newborn babies taken from their mothers and sold for adoption while authorities pretended the babies had died.[2]

Pedophilia and pederasty are not the sole preserve of the Irish Roman Catholic Church, with allegations emerging in virtually every country with a sizable Roman Catholic population, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Germany. For decades the church tried to cover up abuse. Basically, abuse victims were told to keep quiet about harm done to them, while abusers were in most cases moved on to other parishes where far too often other victims were abused. The whole criminal policy was written in Latin to help keep it secret but our article, Crimen Solicitationis explains things in plain English. Eventually the truth came out. Countless abuse victims had their lives effectively ruined through the psychological trauma, some victims were even driven to suicide attempts or to successful suicide. [3][4] Incidentally suicide is a serious sin according to Roman Catholic teaching but keeping the status quo going was more important than preventing suicide.

Inevitably, the clerical hierarchy defended its corporate interests by comparing criticism of it to a struggle between unseen forces. According to Father Gabriele Amorth, none other than Satan is behind the criticism: "There is no doubt about it. Because Benedict XVI is a marvelous Pope and worthy successor to John Paul II, it is clear that the devil wants to ‘grab hold’ of him."[5] What is more, Satan makes use of priests to delegitimize the entire Church: "The devil wants the death of the Church because she is the mother of all the saints." Thus in Fr. Amorth's moral universe the church is never ultimately responsible for the actions of its agents. One obvious question to ask is "why should any thinking person accept moral instruction from people with such retarded moral sensibilities?" As further evidence of the hierarchy's obtuseness, the Vatican issued revised internal church rules on July 15, 2010 that declared both child sexual abuse and the ordination of women to be "grave moral defects."[6]

[edit] Leaked 1997 letter

In January 2010 an anonymous Irish bishop leaked a letter that undermined the Vatican's claim that the Irish sex abuse scandals were an issue of local mismanagement. The letter was written by the then Vatican ambassador to Ireland, Luciano Storero, and sent in response to a 1996 agreement reached by Irish bishops to introduce mandatory reporting of suspected abusers to the authorities - kind of like what one would expect in any organisation that doesn't consider itself to be above the law. Storero's letter reinforces the need to stick with canonical law, and highlighted the possible embarrassment of subsequently seeing their decisions over-ridden by the Holy See. The full text of the letter is hosted by the New York Times here. The letter is being claimed by many, including abuse victims, as being a "smoking gun" that establishes complicity in Rome.[7]

[edit] The church responds

The Catholic Church, given the chance to concede to reality and admit that the protection of child rapists is a serious problem, opted instead to spin. Federico Lombardi, a Vatican spokesman, claimed that the letter had been misunderstood. He argued that the letter was not intended to instruct bishops to disregard civil reporting of suspected abusers, and that it was merely reinforcing the need to adhere to church law meticulously.[8]

Lombardi's response needs to be evaluated in light of the following excerpt taken from the 1997 letter:

In particular, the situation of "mandatory reporting" gives rise to serious reservations of both a moral and a canonical nature.

Even when giving the benefit of the doubt, this letter appears to have caused the Irish bishops to continue their habit of shielding suspected abusers from the civil authorities, yet if that was not the intention the Vatican was reticent in sending a corrective letter. If such a letter was sent then it's unlikely it'll be seen unless leaked. Documents originating from WikiLeaks allege that the Vatican used their statehood to hinder requests for assistance in the Murphy Commission investigation in to sex abuse in the Dublin diocese.[9]

[edit] Other Catholic responses

A screen capture of the Catholic League's news releases for January. Can you see their response to the letter?

The Catholic League managed to fit in a mention of the letter, but of course had many more important things to be angry about. Namely a blasphemous video at the Smithsonian and Muslims saying bad things about the Pope.[10]

Donohue's response begins by referring to a Jeffrey Lena, a lawyer representing the Vatican, echoing Storero's claim that the letter did not instruct Irish bishops to disregard civil law, but instead cautioned them against doing anything that could hinder internal church disciplinary proceedings. This is rendered nonsensical when a moment is taken to wonder what would be done if any other organisation, such as a fast-food chain, decided to perform internal investigations prior to informing the authorities of allegations that their employees had been raping the children of customers?

Donohue goes on to complain that the New York Times failed to report on a rabbinical court in Brooklyn that ordered its 10,000 members not to report crimes to the police. How this is relevant to the letter is anyone's guess, but it certainly helps Donohue build on his persecution complex, and perhaps imply that those pesky Jews are at the helm of the newspaper.

The letter finishes with the complaint that liberal media and activist groups have actually fought against mandatory reporting, when in fact Catholic bishops want it. Even if true, the letter from the Vatican appears to be out of step with the wishes of these bishops. Some counseling groups have indeed campaigned against a requirement that they report rape, although their circumstances are slightly different to those of the church. These groups aren't normally in the position of having to protect their own employees from rape allegations, and even accepting their opposition, the Church has not exactly been loud in fighting for such legislation. Indeed Connecticut's bishops mounted a vigorous campaign to prevent the statue of limitations on civil abuse suits, because they quite correctly note that cases become increasingly difficult to defend against as time passes, but also because of the financial liability it could create for them.[11]

[edit] The Pope

The Catholic doctrine of "apostolic succession" holds that it is the original Christian Church - the direct chain of inheritance from Jesus to the apostles passed on via the "laying on of hands." Saint Peter, in particular, is claimed to be the leader of the first apostles, and his authority is said to have been transferred to the See (or diocese) of Rome. The Bishop of Rome (the Pope) is the inheritor of Saint Peter and thus the head of the earthly Church.

The doctrine of apostolic succession is not unique to the Catholic Church: the various Eastern and Orthodox Churches assert their claim to be the true inheritors of the original Christian Church, with Catholicism having abdicated its authority due to heretical teachings such as the filioque doctrine. The Catholic Church agrees that the Orthodox Churches have apostolic succession, and the Orthodox Churches generally agree that the Catholic Church has apostolic succession. The Anglican churches (that's the Church of England also known as the Episcopalians to those of you in America) also claim Apostolic Succession, although the Catholics claim that the Anglican chain was broken on account of Edward VI changing the ordination rite while simultaneously requiring the clergy to assert that the Mass wasn't a sacrifice. Baptists and Restorationists in general deny that apostolic succession is a real thing, and tend to buy into the whole Trail of Blood thing that claims all the early Christians were Baptists and were oppressed by evil Romans who pretended to be Christian. This is why they always want to call the Church "Roman".

The current Pope (or Pontiff[12]) since 2005 is Benedict XVI (Joseph Ratzinger). Ideally, the Pope is a wise man well past normal retiring age, being instead chosen to relentlessly work for the well-being of humanity until God calls him to Heaven. (Or at least that's the plan. Some do, many across history have been in it solely for the power.) Usually, however, the realistic administrator-types have made better popes than the more saintly ones.

[edit] Politics

Politically, the Catholic Church has long been a very conservative force. For centuries, the Church has fought the creation of liberal democracy, vehemently opposing almost every progressive change in Europe during the 18th and 19th centuries. As recently as 1864, Pius IX's infamous Syllabus of Errors declared that liberalism, rationalism and freedom of religion were all heretical. For most of the 20th century it was little better, often supporting monarchies, dictatorships and fascist regimes against democracies and republics (Spain, Italy, and Latin America were all areas where the Church was a bulwark to fascism and militarism). During the second half of the twentieth century, this changed somewhat: the environment of the Cold War meant that the Church's fanatical opposition to Communism landed it on the side of pro-democracy activists like Lech Walesa in Poland. In the 1960's, Catholic clergy in Latin America began challenging, instead of supporting, local elites, using the gospel as a basis. This so-called "liberation theology" was viewed dimly by the central hierarchy due to its links with Marxism and radicalism but it attracted considerable support among ordinary Catholics. Also, while remaining vehemently opposed to gay rights, abortion, and birth control, the Church has also taken a stand against the death penalty, unprovoked aggression, and torture. It has also made some effort to ameliorate its generally appalling record on the treatment of women, while still absolutely prohibiting the creation of women clergy.

The Catholic Church is the only religious denomination to have full legal, internationally recognised control of its own state, the Vatican City State in Rome.[13] Historically, from about the mid-7th century onwards, the Popes had controlled the Papal States, a territory covering a significant part of central Italy.[14] In 1860, however, most of the Papal States were lost as part of the wars that led to the unification of Italy. Rome was finally occupied by Italy in 1870, leading to a 59-year conflict between the Popes and the government of Italy. This conflict that was finally resolved by the Concordat of 1929 with Fascist Italy that established the present-day Vatican City as a sovereign state.

[edit] Relationship with other Christians

While most people in the West do not contest the idea that the Catholic Church is the oldest branch of Christianity, there are other Eastern branches that consider themselves as old as the Roman Catholic Church, which they claim has fallen into heresy (an opinion reciprocated by the Catholics). Recently, there has been a push by the Catholic Church to reconcile with some of these smaller churches, with some success. Despite the RCC's status as the largest branch of Christianity, however, some fundamentalist Protestants refuse to recognize it as Christian at all. The RCC recognizes that the Eastern Orthodox Churches have valid orders but it considers the orders of the Anglican Communion to be utterly null and absolutely void.

The Catholic Church considers all persons baptized with the Trinitarian formula to be members, but in various degrees of communion. Latin Rite and Ukrainian Rite Catholics, for instance, are in full communion with the Bishop of Rome. The Eastern Orthodox are considered to be very close indeed, but full intercommunion between the two is currently not authorized (Catholics are allowed to participate in the Eucharist at Eastern Orthodox Masses whereas the Orthodox cannot do so at a Catholic Mass). Lutherans and Methodists are acknowledged to be fellow Christians, but they are considered "separated brethren." Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, and Oneness Pentecostals are considered to be members of non-Christian sects due to what the Catholic Church holds to be their view of the Holy Trinity.

Neither is Catholicism a monolithic entity in and of itself; there are several branches, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa, that are fundamentally part of the Catholic Church but do not consider themselves Roman Catholic, while splinter groups both liberal and traditionalist appear in some places, out of communion with the Roman church, over doctrinal differences such as gay rights, female priesthood, and the controversial Vatican II reforms of the 1960s. In addition, small groups such as Opus Dei and the Society of St. Pius X operate on the fringes of the Roman church (the latter is generally not on good terms with Rome, while the former, though a social fringe and according to some a cult, operates with the direct blessing of the Vatican).

Unlike Protestants, Catholics do not consider the Bible to be the sole source of religious truth. To Catholics, the Bible is just one part of "Sacred Tradition" and cannot be interpreted outside of the Church's teaching. To the Catholic view, believing in the Bible without believing in the Church that wrote it is a confusion, analogous to thinking that the book The Origin of Species is good science but that Charles Darwin was a moron. As a result, rationalist arguments based on Biblical contradictions are less challenging to Catholics than to Protestants—Catholics don't expect the Bible to make sense to an individual intellectually examining it outside the Church. The Roman Catholic hierarchy for England, Scotland, and Wales has formally accepted that parts of the Bible are not literally true; this applies to the first few chapters of Genesis, parts of Revelation, and to the idea that all Jews collectively are responsible for the death of Jesus.[15]

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] Footnotes

  1. Association of Catholic Priests discuss Church's future
  2. Giles Tremlett. "Spain seeks truth on baby-trafficking claims." The Guardian. 2011 January 27.
  3. Stephen Castle. "Pervasive Abuse Found in Belgian Church." New York Times. 2010 September 10.
  4. Howard Friedman. "Estate of Suicide Victim Sues Catholic Diocese For Negligence." Religion Clause. 2010 August 1.
  5. "Satan behind media attacks on the Pope, asserts Italian exorcist." Catholic News Agency. 2010 March 31.
  6. Rachel Donadio. "Vatican Revises Abuse Process, But Causes Stir." The New York Times. 2010 July 16.
  7. New York Times: Vatican Letter Warned Bishops on Abuse Policy
  8. The Guardian: Vatican says Irish abuse letter has been 'misunderstood' with quite justifiable scare quotes.
  9. RTE News: WikiLeaks disclosures 'serious', says Vatican
  10. Catholic League press releases for January
  11. Catholic News Service: Bishops decry bill to lift statute of limitations on civil abuse suits
  12. the title Pontifex Maximus - literally "Master Bridge Builder" was originally a pagan Roman title held by the Emperors, which the popes claimed following the establishment of Christianity as Rome's official religion
  13. Although the Orthodox monasteries on Mount Athos also enjoy considerable political autonomy from the Greek state, they do not, for example host diplomatic missions as the Vatican does. Saudi Arabia and Iran are examples of other states where the clergy have a fair amount of legal authority, although there is still a civil administration.
  14. The basis of papal temporal authority was said to be the "Donation of Constantine" - a supposed testament of Emperor Constantine that gave the Popes authority over central history. In fact this document is one of history's most notorious forgeries.
  15. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article574768.ece
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