One Saturday night at Mass..and Pope Benedict XVI's letter

I sat in Mass tonight and listened with interest to the homily. Some of you may be thinking, why is she blogging about a homily at Mass? But those of you who have heard the news recently would know that all priests were reading out the letter from Pope Benedict XVI at weekend Masses, in which the Pope expressed his sadness and declared his apologies to those affected by clerical sex abuse. Pope Benedict XVI made a lot of important points throughout this letter, including how he is pleading with those who were abused not to give up hope, but that he fully accepts that what happened is unacceptable.

A lot of things went through my head as I listened to my local priest reading the summarised version of the letter (those who had a keener interest in delving more into this letter had to access it through the local diocesan website). Firstly, I would have to applaud Pope Benedict in publishing this particular letter, as it shows that this has affected those internationally, not just in Ireland. However, I also feel that just because this letter has been published doesn’t mean that everything is now perfect again. This letter may bring some form of justice to those who have been affected and abused, but what difference does it make? It won’t undo the past; it won’t change the devastating events that took place.

Worryingly, what my local priest said towards the end of the homily angered me a lot. “Out of the 360 priests who have served in our area in the last 50 years, only five have been convicted.” Only five? That’s five too many. That’s five people’s lives ruined, and maybe more. That’s five people who will never be the same again, thanks to the disgraceful antics that have occurred over the past few decades. Their lives are ruined, thanks to the vicious abuse that they had to endure from these clerical abusers. So how can this priest say that there were only five convicted of clerical abuse?

Fair enough, all priests are not sex abusers, and I know that. I understand that they are all tarnished with the same brush, and that must be hard, but what can they expect? A priest is somebody that a person should be able to trust, not somebody who could change your life – for worse, not for better. When I first heard of all of the clerical abuse scandals, I was shocked and frankly disgusted by what had happened. For this to happen in our country is simply not good enough. I have always been of a strong Christian belief, and I suppose I still am. However, what has happened over the last few decades has made me really question my beliefs. I simply don’t know what to think about the Catholic Church anymore. How can I believe that everything is perfect? Because the stark reality is that it is not, and will not be for some time.

One must wonder what the future holds for the Catholic Church, but to be honest, it looks nothing but grim.

Here is the link for the letter from the Pope..it makes interesting reading..
http://www.corkandross.org/2010_papal_letter.jsp
SW