Skandalon
Pope Francis has summoned the leaders of bishops conference around the world to a summit next February at the Vatican on sex abuse. I doubt anything will come of this, though so much could. One thing the pope could do is to mandate that the bishops/priests all around the world be mandatory reporters of clergy sex abuse to local civil authorities. Pope Francis won't so that. Just last month the bishops of Australia refused to adhere to such a civil law - Catholic bishops in Australia reject compulsory abuse reporting, defying new laws
The pope also mentioned the issue in his most recent homily in which he said ...
“In these times, it seems like the 'Great Accuser' has been unchained and is attacking bishops. True, we are all sinners, we bishops. He tries to uncover the sins, so they are visible in order to scandalize the people ...."
I'm not sure if he means that those accusing the bishops (and him) of covering up sex abuse are being possessed by the devil in order to "scandalize" people, but it does sound like that.
I think the idea of "scandal" has a big part in the Catholic church sex abuse cover-up. The word in Greek is σκάνδαλον and means a stumbling block - an object like a rock that someone would trip over to fall into a trap. The word shows up a lot in the NT - Luke 17:1–17:1 ... Jesus said to his disciples, “Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to anyone by whom they come!
In the Catholic church, this has come to mean that no one should cause a scandal, cause others to stumble in their faith (Thomas Aquinas thought scandal was "something less rightly said or done that occasions spiritual downfall").
When the sex abuse problem became public, the church hierarchy told themselves that they had to cover up the awful truth so that it didn't scandalize the Faithful. I think the real reason they hid the truth was that they wanted to keep their jobs. And as it has turned out, it has been the lies of the hierarchy that have scandalized us and made many lose their faith.
And now the pope seems to be saying that these recent revelations of sex abuse cover-up are the work of the devil. Somehow, I just don't have a lot of confidence in him creating transparency or enforcing accountability for the bishops.
The pope also mentioned the issue in his most recent homily in which he said ...
“In these times, it seems like the 'Great Accuser' has been unchained and is attacking bishops. True, we are all sinners, we bishops. He tries to uncover the sins, so they are visible in order to scandalize the people ...."
I'm not sure if he means that those accusing the bishops (and him) of covering up sex abuse are being possessed by the devil in order to "scandalize" people, but it does sound like that.
I think the idea of "scandal" has a big part in the Catholic church sex abuse cover-up. The word in Greek is σκάνδαλον and means a stumbling block - an object like a rock that someone would trip over to fall into a trap. The word shows up a lot in the NT - Luke 17:1–17:1 ... Jesus said to his disciples, “Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to anyone by whom they come!
In the Catholic church, this has come to mean that no one should cause a scandal, cause others to stumble in their faith (Thomas Aquinas thought scandal was "something less rightly said or done that occasions spiritual downfall").
When the sex abuse problem became public, the church hierarchy told themselves that they had to cover up the awful truth so that it didn't scandalize the Faithful. I think the real reason they hid the truth was that they wanted to keep their jobs. And as it has turned out, it has been the lies of the hierarchy that have scandalized us and made many lose their faith.
And now the pope seems to be saying that these recent revelations of sex abuse cover-up are the work of the devil. Somehow, I just don't have a lot of confidence in him creating transparency or enforcing accountability for the bishops.
posted by crystal | 4:37 PM
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