One of the best movies to come out in the past few years was a film called “Spotlight.” For those of you who don’t know, Spotlight was a film depiction of the team of journalists for the Boston Globe in the early 2000’s who wound up uncovering a scandal in the Catholic Church where priests were molesting young boys. The film came out in 2015 and so by the time I saw it, I thought “this is past tense.” “Surely,” I thought, “since this was uncovered this doesn’t happen anymore.” One would think such national, negative attention would force the issue to be exposed and addressed. Then, in the past few weeks, we have learned about Pennsylvania area priests who have molested more than 1,000 children over the course of the last several decades.
This is tragic and disgusting. The harm and trauma inflicted on these children is inexcusable and must be answered for. However, we have to also realize that this is not just an issue for the Catholic Church.
One of the cool things about being a pastor is the different stories you hear about people’s faith encounters and journeys. It’s especially rewarding when people can articulate it well. But, here is one that I hear often: “I used to be a Catholic, then I became a Christian.” This is a misinformed perspective and it’s something I’d like to talk about because it’s a bigger deal than you may think, but first, a history lesson.
In the book of Acts we have the story about how the church began after Jesus died and was resurrected. It’s a gripping tale on how the Holy Spirit moved through a vast variety of people, bringing them together for the purpose of sharing the radical love of Jesus with the world. What happens after Acts is a lot less known on a popular level within the Church.
Where there is a variety of people, there is also a variety of ideas. Some good, some not so much. Churches needed a way to distinguish these ideas and began appointing regional leaders to oversee a number of different church communities. These came to be known as bishops and as the church grew, so did the need for more offices of leadership. Different communities prioritized different leaders and offices and within the first thousand years of the church we have the first concept of denominations. What we now know, today, as the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church, split. Five hundred years later, we have what is called the Reformation which shaped Christianity as we know it today. Many different church communities decided to go their own way, to put it lightly, and many different denominations started parting from the Catholic Church and started their own. This is where we get the word “Protestant” from and is what any denomination outside of Catholic and Orthodox falls under.
With all that said, the Catholic Church is still a part of the Christian religion. One does not “convert” from Catholicism to Christianity. What most people mean when they say such a thing is that they switched denominations, not religions, albeit unknowingly. Yes, Catholicism is a different “brand” of Christianity, but it is still a Christian denomination that worships Jesus as Lord and Messiah.
So, what does this mean? It means Catholicism is part of our family, so to speak. And like any family, there are rotten parts of it that need to be addressed. I’m not saying that Catholicism is rotten, but it obviously has some rotten parts. Priests who are molesting young children is something that needs to be addressed and all Christian denominations should rally around the Church to do so. And not only do we need to address the priests, who are sick, we also need to address those who are covering it up, because they are just as sick. When our Catholic brothers and sisters come under fire for these types of scandals, so do we, and so does the name of Jesus. In the spirit of unity, then, we are to pray, support, and yes, challenge, the Catholic denomination during these times of scandal and abuse so that we can move toward a solution and the love of Jesus can be shown brightest.
Not every priest is a pedophile. Not every Catholic is a person who supports or blindly follows pedophiles. And, Protestant denominations are not exempt from this type of behavior, either. They’ve had their fair share of sex scandals, molestation cases, and abuses as well. So again, it’s not necessarily a specific denomination that needs to be confronted here, it is sick people within these denominations and a conversation needs to be had about the processes and institutions that allow these people to gain positions of influence and leadership.
Make no mistake, this is not a Catholic problem, it is a Christian one and as such, requires a Christian response. The first step of which, is to stand together.
Thank you for that clarification on the “Catholic convert”, Pastor Rusty. I have made that mistake but then I did realize that the change was on the “denomination”. I also appreciate the history lesson on how the different denominations came about. I’ve been attacked by certain loved ones for leaving the Catholic Church and I just say (somewhat jokingly) that Jesus was not Catholic…he was Jewish 🙂
Thank you
For writing this article.
I applaud your willingness to address this topic. I would argue that the Catholic Church by covering it up and continuing to cover it up speaks volumes of the differences between the Catholic Church and Protestant churches. As a pastor that was raised in the Catholic Church I see there are many differences. One glaring out is that in catholisim the Priest acts as the liaison between us and God. This is what disturbs me today as again the higher ups are taking control and misinforming it’s congregations. Keeping the truth from the people. Just as they Keep Gods word from His people. They insist on knowing what Gods word means rather than allowing each of us to read and hear Gods word one on one as He intended This is why we refer to the Bible as the living word. Also the Catholic bible omits the book of Esther. Again stifling its followers and limiting the role of woman These are significant differences along with the emphasis of Catholics on the crusifiction rather than the Protestant emphasis on the resurrection. This is how I see the differences
I understand that all Priest are not bad. What I can’t understand why the Catholic church doesn’t or won’t remove the Priest from the church. Turn them over to the police for trial. But instead the Pope just ask people to forgive the Priest. But they still remain in the church.
Pastor Rusty thank you for this analysis and comment. I was raised Catholic and although I am ashamed of the behavior of many. I was fortunate enough to have many appropriate and positive interactions with many priests, brothers and sisters. We (wife and I) were also fortunate enough to adopt our daughter through Catholic charities, so we will always have a special bond with our Catholic roots. We also work in the RLC Children’s ministry so we also have a special bond with innocent children. Thank you for putting the problem in perspective, with a call for action for us as Christians to alleviate the problem.
Thanks for this excellent post and addressing this from a position of unity as a Christian problem. Brilliant!
I would go one step further and address this as a heart problem.
Jeremiah 17:9
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: Who can know it?
A regenerated heart is the only answer.
It is true that sex scandals are not limited to the Catholic church. But the Catholic church has a systemic problem that is well entrenched in their organization.
What disgusts me the most about this seemingly unending trail of scandals within the Catholic church is that covering it up appears to have become part of the culture, all the way to the top. The Catholic church has spent millions of dollars lobbying against the reversal of statute of limitation laws for sex crimes against children. Priests have been moved around the country in an attempt to conceal their crimes.
I’m not against the Catholic church. I know that Jesus loves Catholics and that many Catholics love and follow Jesus. But the “cover up culture” of the Catholic church is evil and disgusting, and those who have hurt children or participated in the cover up need to face justice.
I would go another step further and say this is a problem of humanity. Not just churches…
I believe if they allowed Priests to get married that would be a step in the relationship get direction. Molestration is a sickness that the Catholic Church has turned a deaf ear to. The church needs to hold the Priests and the Pope accountable. A violator should be tried, convicted then fired.
If the Pope is harboring Priests, he should be held accountable.
We are surrounded by Molestation and pedophiles in the secular and religious worlds. The church, the people that believe are supposed to be a safe place, a place of help and protection. A sanctuary of hope and comfort. When that institution ” The Church” turns its back on the wounded and protects perpetrator. There’s reason for anger and outcry at the very institutions that violate that sacred oath with it’s people and God. I’m disgusted with the leaders in the Catholic church who’ve allowed this to continue. They’re solely responsible for theses wounded souls who’ve been a victim of their misguided evil ways and cover ups. They’re responsible for the many suicides, drug abuse and the people who’ve simply walked away from God. To this day what do I hear from the Pope? His concerns about Global warming and boarders! I want to slap that man across the face and say how dare you pass over these people! It starts with the leadership and the convictions of what’s right! Their leadership is broken!