Crucifixion time again
With new scandals assailing parts of the Church today (mainly in the US), we are reminded that we are into another round of crucifixion time for our Mother, the Church. We should not be surprised anymore by this. But we should be prepared to handle this predicament properly and learn lessons.
The life of the Church cannot help but reflect the life, passion, death, and resurrection of Christ. Yes, we cannot escape the curse of sin in our life as well as in the life of the Church as a whole.
Like Christ, the Church has to bear all sins of men, including those committed by its temporal leaders. Christ did all he could to sanctify us. He preached, performed miracles, instituted the sacraments and founded the Church, etc. But in the end, due to our hardheadedness and weaknesses, he had to offer his life to save us. The Church cannot do any less. She has to suffer the same fate.
It is painful to experience all these scandals, but we should not overreact to the point of making things worse. These scandals, a consequence of human weaknesses that can afflict even our Church leaders, are actually a call for another conversion, which is something that is meant to be a continuing, life-long process for each of us. Something very good can be derived from these scandals.
We just have to focus on what we can gain from these scandals in terms of what can favor another conversion rather than focusing on their purely negative aspects. Of course, there will be elements that will rub it in on us. Some sectors of the media will have a field day with this. But this is expected.
We just have to be ready to react to all this properly, as shown by Christ. And that is simply to suffer together with Christ—a suffering that is in accordance with the Father’s will. In a sense, suffering caused by the scandals is another way of identifying ourselves more intimately with Christ. In a way, it is a welcome development.
Meanwhile, we have to do the continuing task of cleaning up our own selves and the Church as an institution. We cannot deny that weaknesses, temptations, and sins will always hound us. We have to identify more clearly the deficiencies in Christian life that give rise to these scandals and come up with the measures to address them.
Offhand, we can take another review of how the formation of priests and seminarians is done. What improvement can be made there? How should priests be more effectively accompanied in their ministry so their spiritual life remains healthy as they carry out their heavy responsibilities?
Since transparency is also a goal, how should this be done without compromising the basic human rights of all the parties involved? How should Church authorities handle cases where the legal rights of persons are involved? Justice, charity, and mercy should go hand-in-hand.
These, I suppose, are some of the things that have to be looked into if only to minimize the scandals that can disturb people in general. It cannot be denied Church authorities have to install appropriate means and structures to be in step with the rightful expectations of the world.
It’s about time for the Church authorities to air the hidden dirty closets. Transparency and accountability should be lived strictly. It certainly will be a very painful and unpleasant task, but it will definitely be for the common good, and will give due glory to God!
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