Dang, I think this one might have been Flynn Unleashed! And deservedly.
I did not know about John Allen's statements in the McCarrick Report. I only vaguely knew of him as a long-time trusted name when it came to Vatican news, but yikes, yikes, yikes. It might - *might* - be the job of an employee of the Vatican Press Office to "build up" the reputations of those in the clerical state, but I disagree with him that it's the job of a person who self-identifies as a journalist.
I think that for a long time (and still) many people in and out of the Church hierarchy have considered it to be a participation in evangelization to make the Church look good, with leaders who have integrity and trustworthiness, because it makes the Church more inviting to non-believers.
Which, of course, requires a lack of integrity and trustworthiness when it devolves into priest-splaining, bishop-splaining, cardinal-splaining, or pope-splaining.
Perhaps the worst of John Allen's article is that he just provided an argument for people to put their hands on peoples' genitals in religious contexts. As inappropriate but not abusive - inappropriate just means the circumstances were wrong, not that you should never do it. Maybe it's appropriate if they're adults. Or if they consent. Or if they've joined this one group. Or if particular people are there, and no one else. Or if they invent a ritual for it first.
I agree with that idea, that integrity and trustworthiness in leadership could be a lead-in to evangelization. If by leadership we mean the Holy Trinity and the saints!
A lot of people come to the Church through the influence of Catholic laity or clergy. We often meet God in other people first. Even for those who are already in the Church, honest, trustworthy clergy can have an enormous effect on those they lead.
But lying, prevaricating, omitting, or deceiving people about those clergy who lack integrity and trustworthiness only serves to make the Church less trustworthy and less holy. It serves to make outsiders think that the Church's members are mildly brainwashed, to be defending such things, and it weakens those seeking holiness who are already members. It is whitewashing a tomb while rolling in the bones.
I have lived in Cranford-on and off since 1962–we used to see some angry street-corner Protestants who would spew out scripture looking bad if they beamed in from the 1950s with Chicago box haircuts an
First, thank you for pursuing the Principi story even as--astonishingly--virtually nobody else is talking about it. I've read a lot of Catholic news, including a lot of really dark stuff, but this story perhaps disturbs me more than just about any other story I've read recently. It feels like the most systemic problem in the Church lain bare--and to a symphonic chorus of crickets, save for you all. Truth dies in darkness, they say, so keep that spotlight pointed at this story.
Second, thank you to your wife for everything she has done. I have brother with developmental disabilities and have been navigating the Church, education, and all else with him since I was born. I remember tears came to my eyes the first time I heard of the FIRE Foundation because it felt like--for the first time in my several decades of life--somebody in the Church looked at my brother and said, "You are the Church too. Your education matters too." She, and FIRE as a whole, are heroes to me.
Third, thank you for bringing the Jubilee for People with Disabilities to our attention, and for your generous spirit with the pilgrimage. Hugely meaningful, even for those who are unable to go.
In all seriousness though, please do pass my my thanks on to your wife. I know I'm a random stranger on the internet, but I have a feeling that folks like her receive far less gratitude than they deserve for the work they do, you know?
“Speechless” is the kindest descriptor that could be used for J Allen’s slight-of-hand cover for the Vatican Left. Sorry, I won’t use the PC term “progressive.”
I guess the Church has decomposed to the place that it can find excuses for anybody—much less priests—putting hands over anybody’s genitalia—much less kids’! But then that’s essentially the Rupnik defense, wasn’t it? Ie., The Perp was only praying for them!
Like Paul Mankowski SJ said, “I’m waiting for the asteroid.” 🤦♀️
I think everything you say about the value of memorizing scripture is true, and our family has tried to practice this at various points, but I think the confusion of translations is a serious obstacle to it ever becoming a common Catholic cultural practice. Which version do you learn? The obvious answer would be what's used at Mass, except that it's one of the worst translations out there, plus they keep changing it, anyway. That's one thing the Anglicans did brilliantly - making a translation so good everybody took it as the standard for centuries.
I don't think the KJV is actually good. But it is beautiful, and became the standard for many reasons. One of them being that it was translated in order to match mainstream Anglican belief and practice, so most people would not have had objections, and another that it was required for use in the legally obligatory Sunday services.
I've given up on choosing a translation and just learn from several versions as I please, but it does rotate around what I use practically. Latin Vulgate and Douay-Rheims matches Mass and the Divine Office, while RSVCE is one of the best translations from an accuracy point of view, and I use it for lectio and study, but I don't think it captures the music of the psalms and canticles well. I don't do a lot of deliberate memorization though.
This is my big issue too. The translation at Mass is different from the translation in the LOTH, which is different than my study Bible (Ignatius Bible, super excited for the full version to be released soon). And the LOTH and Mass translations might change again soon-ish. Hearing so many slightly different version makes remembering exact word for word memorization difficult. As long as we get the gist and learn the message I think we're in good shape.
I would just ask the Holy Spirit. But he is going to give different people different answers according to circumstances (I would also, if I were going to memorize something on purpose, ask him what to memorize.)... I suppose another fine option would be to ask one's guardian angel because they are probably keen to see us spend more time on figuratively eating healthy food.
A guy on Youtube who promotes ancient languages was doing a "memorize the first 100 lines of Homer in the original" challenge earlier this year, which I had zero interest in, but since the challenge was described as memorizing "poetry" it seemed to me that John 1 would be a pretty fine thing. I have memorized one (1) line since then. I am not a very fast learner (he did have some stellar tips on how to do memorization, pragmatically, and maybe during the break I will give it a shot and acquire another verse or two.)
Such a good point - I've started to have some psalms close to memorized through praying Liturgy of the Hours, but then no other source has the same translation and I'm thrown off balance! Not to mention they are apparently changing the LOH translation soon anyway... I know it's not an excuse not to memorize Scripture, but it sure would be nice for one really great standard translation everyone knows.
I have nothing kind to say about the Allen piece - I'm disgusted. I strongly side with each and every one of the things Mr Flynn said in reply. Please Pillar writers, for the love of God and his children, do not let this case die.
Oh, and memorizing scripture is fun. We Catholics should definitely do more of it. It's like a secret code language we can use when we're talking in public with our Protestant brethren, especially nowadays when the Bible is hardly the familiar cultural bedrock it once was.
Memorization of Scripture is eminently Catholic . . . as long as we remember that the Catholic Church didn't begin with the Counter-Reformation. The Fathers of the Church and the medieval doctors had a good deal of Scripture committed to memory but not necessarily with chapter and verse references - but that's because chapters were only added to the biblical text in the 13th century and verses in the 16th. Obadiah is great . . . but the best and easiest place to start is the psalms. Praying the liturgy of the hours is a great way to encourage this. If you have young kids and/or grandkids, memorize some psalms together with them. My wife and I did that 30 yrs ago with our kids, and now they are teaching those psalms to their kids. We pray these psalms together from memory at family vacations and holidays.
I'm picturing J.D. writing today's Pillar Post whilst quietly humming from The Prince of Egypt to himself: "I send my scourge, I send my sword, Thus sayest the LORD!"
"we might well have hit upon a crux of the problem." - We see what you did there. :)
With the Allen piece, you reminded me of Cdl. O'Malley [see recent story] here, saying very strong things with surprising gentleness. Allen's reputation for being well-sourced is renown, and his statements about not burning sources public, so I would tend to agree with your take that he is carrying water for Perra et al, probably trying to stay on the right side of them as sources. But the mortal sin here is passing off editorializing (for someone else!) as news journalism. (Terry Mattingly, call your office.)
I have come to believe John L. Allen Jr. is the Neil DeGrasse Tyson of catholic journalists. This can be interpreted in both a positive way, and in a negative way. Both are intended.
I am often reminded of this quote from HIllarire Belloc: "... The Catholic Church is an institution I am bound to hold divine - but for unbelievers a proof of its divinity might be found in the fact that no merely human institution conducted with such knavish imbecility would have lasted a fortnight ..." There is plenty of knavish imbecility to go around these days. The "old boy" network of favors for who you know is very disturbing. There is either a system of Canon Law or there is not. A very loved pastor in my city was laicized because of alleged sexual crimes a few years ago. No one swooped down like a deus ex machina to save his vocation and career. I thank the Pillar staff for their work. However, it gets very demoralizing. What can we do as rank and file Catholics other than pray? The curia is not elected by popular vote, so we can't vote them out. They are self-perpetuating. We need to pray and suffer the rule of Christ's Church done in a fashion of knavish imbecility.
Sadly the only real vote we have, affecting our local church for Curial miscreance, is our offertory envelope/electronic contribution. Beyond that one’s only choice is to vote with your feet.
Become holy, so your prayers become more efficacious. Fasting will give them a boost too.
There are a number of organizations that help victims of sexual abuse; I try to help Metanoia out. Study your faith, including moral theology, so you don't get twisted around by knavish imbeciles, and so you will be ready to speak and work for justice when and if God puts you in a position to do so. Try to encourage others to do the same.
> What can we do as rank and file Catholics other than pray?
That's like what can I do when I'm hungry other than cook dinner? :) (sorry, I'm hungry and ordered a pizza and am waiting for it to arrive.) To pray (and fast and give alms) is the ordinary thing for laypeople to do to make the Church holy. A rising tide of holiness will lift all boats that are still seaworthy. But why not think outside the box? If what the Church needs is MORE SAINTS (I think this is generally acknowledged), what is the fastest way to generate more saints (other than to beg God "make me a saint", which is always the first thing to try)? There are as far as I know a bunch of souls in purgatory that are currently sweating off their debt, for whom we could accelerate the process and obtain new intercessors in heaven who are eager to return favors. I am not sure that this is the equivalent of ordering pizza but I had to put in a good word for them because they are having a very hard time in there, or down there, or whatever the right preposition is.
Or pray for the conversion of those who are going to die today who are not yet in a state of grace. According to Luke 7:47 the one who has been forgiven much loves much. And probably flies through Purgatory for that reason.
And the Allen issue strikes me very much akin to what the State Department calls clientitis, which is when you start arguing the country where you’re stationed’s interests back to the U.S., rather than the U.S.’s interests to the client. It’s a common enough phenomenon it’s got a name, and the main solution State has is rotating people out of jobs so they don’t “go native.”
Let’s hope Allen isn’t becoming a Vatican Walter Duranty…
Wow! Love the pilgrimage idea. I had already looked up the disability jubilee (for my dependents) and I cannot because it's during the school year; I have set my sights on early June instead but I want to know all the things.
Thanks to The Pillar for keeping the flame of Catholic journalism alive. The Principi story is disheartening in many ways but most especially for the corrupting influence of homosexuality on the Church as a whole, on the Curia and governance, and--most importantly--on the faithful, especially the victims and their families. Shame on Pope Francis for allowing Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra to remain in his office.
I have written this before and will share again: Homosexuality corrupts; clerical homosexuality (especially in the episcopate and curia!) corrupts absolutely. I applaud and pray for the continued fidelity of men and women who participate in Courage International apostolate--but that is not what we're talking about here. This is unabashed corruption on behalf of an abusive, manipulative, homosexual cleric--in 2024!!! That John Allen and Crux are implicated in excusing the behavior is simply more evidence of the corrupting power of active homosexuals in the clergy.
The presence of active homosexuals in the priesthood--and most especially in the episcopacy--is a cancer on the Bride of Christ. Homosexuality is inherently corrupting, and because of the nature of their priestly and pastoral roles, the corruption cannot be limited to their own personal sphere. As evident here, the cancer inevitably spreads to those around them and affects the entire Church, cf. clerical abuse scandals in the U.S., drug-fueled homosexual orgies in the Vatican, and now this. The legacy of these sexual abuse scandals in the US and other countries, which were overwhelmingly homosexual in nature, is the clearest example of how it affects the entire Church: children robbed of their innocence, trust, and faith in God; families torn asunder by the horrific consequences of the abuse; the missionary and salvific teaching of the Church is rejected because of clerical hypocrisy; priests, bishops, the Pope and the Church everywhere became the object of scorn, derision, and mistrust; the faithful are so scandalized to the point that many left the Church; vocations plummeted and entire parishes were closed; beautiful and majestic churches--built by the donations of the faithful for the glory of God--are sold and desacralized for base purposes; diocese after diocese was subjected to lawsuits and forced to pay out tens of millions, sometimes, hundreds of millions to settle the lawsuits, squandering the hard-earned donation of the faithful that could and should have gone to charitable work, vocations, and catechesis. Faithful and uncorrupted bishops must rise to their Apostolic vocation and call for vigorous and transparent investigations. Moreover, they--the faithful bishops--must be willing to call out any and all who shelter or make excuses for abusers, including Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra! By all means, let the abusers seek God's forgiveness through confession and penance, but for the love of God and all that is holy, do not—under any circumstances—ever allow these men to remain in any position of authority in the Church.
JD’s recent article, like so many others, underscores the deep systemic issues plaguing the Catholic Church, particularly its ongoing failure to implement and adhere to the transparent, accountable governance processes promised during Pope Francis’s reform efforts. While The Pillar does a courageous job exposing these failures and consistently pounding the drum on their seriousness, no Catholic journalist seems willing to take the next step: articulating the foreseeable consequences in stark, unavoidable terms.
The Catholic Church claims to be the one true apostolic Church, uniquely guided by the Holy Spirit. Yet, it consistently undermines the rule of law and proves incapable of upholding its own moral and doctrinal teachings. What is the consequence of that? It renders the Church’s central claim—that it is divinely inspired and guided—untenable in the eyes of the faithful.
The deeply ingrained culture of clericalism—one that cannot be expunged even to protect the Church’s most vulnerable members—further compounds this crisis. What is the result? The faithful will increasingly withdraw their support, both spiritually and financially. The mounting billion-dollar civil judgments for abuse cases and the lack of credibility to attract new donors or believers will leave the Church financially crippled, unable to fulfill its mission.
If the Church is seen as corrupt at its core, it becomes increasingly difficult to reconcile this reality with the belief that it is divinely inspired. A just and omnipotent God does not promote or permit false prophets or corrupt leaders to represent His will. This fundamental contradiction, then, will lead many to question not just the institution but the very foundation of its divine mission. The Church will no longer be considered divinely guided, for how could God allow such corruption at the heart of His most sacred institution?
I can voice my opposition (and have) and do what I can financially (not a dime to anything I know goes back to Rome) but saying "I'm Catholic" is an affirmation and one that it's growing hard to be proud of when the Pope is clearly at best turning a blind eye to what his Bishops are doing.
Sue, I’m late to this piece so bear with me. Speaking out is like shouting into a void. The corruption of the institution is vast; even an individual bishop, if he even wanted to, couldn’t cause a ripple. After working for the church for 11 years and toward the later years seeing a corrupt and destructive bishop up close, I can say the institution, like all of them, exists to protect its prerogatives. And after their war on women’s health care, the final (but not only) straw, I departed. My faith in Jesus Christ is abundant, but I cannot abide this corrupt institution.
I wonder if it is getting worse, or are we just seeing more of what’s been there for a long time? I think some things might need to get even worse than they already are (as horrific as that sounds) before hitting rock bottom and getting better. There needs to be a reckoning, and I do think it’s starting to happen in some parts of the world, thanks in part to reporting by The Pillar.
I think there's a bit of a generational effect. US seminaries (and probably others worldwide) were absolutely awful for many decades. Some of them seemed to be places I wouldn't send my enemies. The men vetted and formed by that are the current crop of bishops, since the last generation has died. Society's general distaste for priests has done a lot to clear out some of the guys who don't really believe. There's also been a big effort at getting the seminaries better, but they're still not phenomenal, and the current crop of bishops can probably still pick rotten ones for promotion. Based on that, I think we're getting into the turning of the tide, but it'll be a while yet before it's out, and the scandals have, by virtue of the generational shift, taken over many more of the higher positions. That serves to make them both more powerful, and more public when/if they are caught.
I do not think this means we can just chill and wait it out. I think the efforts to bring things into the light, and to see abusers and the complicit removed, is essential, and that it's still going to take a lot of time before things look like any of those efforts have been successful.
This began as a societal problem, but the statistics you are citing are only based on convictions. We are only at the tip of the iceberg as far as actual convictions of clerical abusers. (As evidenced by the wave of recent diocesan bankruptcy declarations.) It is well-known that many, if not most, American seminaries have been preferring sexually deviant men for decades. (Several earned the nick-name “Pink Palace” because this preference for homosexual candidates was so obvious.) This cancer will take decades to heal, and cannot happen without a rebirth of holiness among families supplying the men for the priesthood, and an overhaul of the American seminary system. Although the first step, is to keep our peerless Pillar reporters shining the light of truth on stories like the Principi case.
I agree the statistics are the tip of the iceberg. But they are also the tip of the iceberg for all the other demographics. Schools (aided by the secular news) have been covering up this stuff for at least as long as the Church has, and one of the few doctors who made the news for this, made it in part because the FBI was involved in the coverup. I am making an assumption that all the statistics are underestimating the problem by about the same amount.
> The Church will no longer be considered divinely guided, for how could God allow such corruption at the heart of His most sacred institution?
Anyone wondering this *does* need to embark on the Flynn Scripture Challenge because to allow corruption is literally God's modus operandi at least half the time. Let me sing you a song about my vineyard; I went on a sabbatical and at harvest time sent messengers to ask the tenants for the produce, but instead they beat the stuffin' out of my servants, and finally I sent my son *knowing full well that they would kill him* (given that his son says repeatedly to his son's closest friends "the Son of Man must be handed over &c."). God is (by the standards of the world) either insane or an idiot, and we *have* to internalize this basic fact because when (if) we are taken up into the internal life of the Trinity it is as members of the *Son* and so we should take a good hard look at how upside-down his life is from what we would consider success.
Dang, I think this one might have been Flynn Unleashed! And deservedly.
I did not know about John Allen's statements in the McCarrick Report. I only vaguely knew of him as a long-time trusted name when it came to Vatican news, but yikes, yikes, yikes. It might - *might* - be the job of an employee of the Vatican Press Office to "build up" the reputations of those in the clerical state, but I disagree with him that it's the job of a person who self-identifies as a journalist.
Yep. Yuck, yuck, yuck.
I think that for a long time (and still) many people in and out of the Church hierarchy have considered it to be a participation in evangelization to make the Church look good, with leaders who have integrity and trustworthiness, because it makes the Church more inviting to non-believers.
Which, of course, requires a lack of integrity and trustworthiness when it devolves into priest-splaining, bishop-splaining, cardinal-splaining, or pope-splaining.
Perhaps the worst of John Allen's article is that he just provided an argument for people to put their hands on peoples' genitals in religious contexts. As inappropriate but not abusive - inappropriate just means the circumstances were wrong, not that you should never do it. Maybe it's appropriate if they're adults. Or if they consent. Or if they've joined this one group. Or if particular people are there, and no one else. Or if they invent a ritual for it first.
Or if... Or if... Or if...
I agree with that idea, that integrity and trustworthiness in leadership could be a lead-in to evangelization. If by leadership we mean the Holy Trinity and the saints!
A lot of people come to the Church through the influence of Catholic laity or clergy. We often meet God in other people first. Even for those who are already in the Church, honest, trustworthy clergy can have an enormous effect on those they lead.
But lying, prevaricating, omitting, or deceiving people about those clergy who lack integrity and trustworthiness only serves to make the Church less trustworthy and less holy. It serves to make outsiders think that the Church's members are mildly brainwashed, to be defending such things, and it weakens those seeking holiness who are already members. It is whitewashing a tomb while rolling in the bones.
Hey, Flynn when were you in Garwood—I live next store in Cranford!
I grew up there!
I have lived in Cranford-on and off since 1962–we used to see some angry street-corner Protestants who would spew out scripture looking bad if they beamed in from the 1950s with Chicago box haircuts an
You don't mean the Plymouth Brethren in Garwood, do you? They preached on the street corner, sure, but we found them to be really wonderful families.
And the kids knew scripture too, but their bark was as bad as their bite.
God bless them all.
No, Unless they moved to Lincoln Avenue in Cranford right on the Garwood border.
JD, three thank yous from me.
First, thank you for pursuing the Principi story even as--astonishingly--virtually nobody else is talking about it. I've read a lot of Catholic news, including a lot of really dark stuff, but this story perhaps disturbs me more than just about any other story I've read recently. It feels like the most systemic problem in the Church lain bare--and to a symphonic chorus of crickets, save for you all. Truth dies in darkness, they say, so keep that spotlight pointed at this story.
Second, thank you to your wife for everything she has done. I have brother with developmental disabilities and have been navigating the Church, education, and all else with him since I was born. I remember tears came to my eyes the first time I heard of the FIRE Foundation because it felt like--for the first time in my several decades of life--somebody in the Church looked at my brother and said, "You are the Church too. Your education matters too." She, and FIRE as a whole, are heroes to me.
Third, thank you for bringing the Jubilee for People with Disabilities to our attention, and for your generous spirit with the pilgrimage. Hugely meaningful, even for those who are unable to go.
hey thanks.
and thanks.
and thanks.
You are welcome,
you are welcome,
you are maxima welcome. :P
In all seriousness though, please do pass my my thanks on to your wife. I know I'm a random stranger on the internet, but I have a feeling that folks like her receive far less gratitude than they deserve for the work they do, you know?
I sure will.
“Speechless” is the kindest descriptor that could be used for J Allen’s slight-of-hand cover for the Vatican Left. Sorry, I won’t use the PC term “progressive.”
I guess the Church has decomposed to the place that it can find excuses for anybody—much less priests—putting hands over anybody’s genitalia—much less kids’! But then that’s essentially the Rupnik defense, wasn’t it? Ie., The Perp was only praying for them!
Like Paul Mankowski SJ said, “I’m waiting for the asteroid.” 🤦♀️
Ha! Exactly what Paul would say. RIP et ora pro nobis!
I think everything you say about the value of memorizing scripture is true, and our family has tried to practice this at various points, but I think the confusion of translations is a serious obstacle to it ever becoming a common Catholic cultural practice. Which version do you learn? The obvious answer would be what's used at Mass, except that it's one of the worst translations out there, plus they keep changing it, anyway. That's one thing the Anglicans did brilliantly - making a translation so good everybody took it as the standard for centuries.
I don't think the KJV is actually good. But it is beautiful, and became the standard for many reasons. One of them being that it was translated in order to match mainstream Anglican belief and practice, so most people would not have had objections, and another that it was required for use in the legally obligatory Sunday services.
I've given up on choosing a translation and just learn from several versions as I please, but it does rotate around what I use practically. Latin Vulgate and Douay-Rheims matches Mass and the Divine Office, while RSVCE is one of the best translations from an accuracy point of view, and I use it for lectio and study, but I don't think it captures the music of the psalms and canticles well. I don't do a lot of deliberate memorization though.
In Canada, fortunately, we use the NRSVCE for liturgical purposes. Personally, I would prefer the RSVCE but you don't always get what you want.
I've long envied Canada's use of any version of the RSV. That family of translations in general is very good, even given the variants.
Maybe we should memorize canon law instead. I think there's only one translation of that... :S
actually, the CLSA and the CLSGBI use different translations!
This is enough to make a person convert to KJV-onlyism! ... I suppose you'll tell me there are different translations by that name too...
This is my big issue too. The translation at Mass is different from the translation in the LOTH, which is different than my study Bible (Ignatius Bible, super excited for the full version to be released soon). And the LOTH and Mass translations might change again soon-ish. Hearing so many slightly different version makes remembering exact word for word memorization difficult. As long as we get the gist and learn the message I think we're in good shape.
> Which version do you learn?
I would just ask the Holy Spirit. But he is going to give different people different answers according to circumstances (I would also, if I were going to memorize something on purpose, ask him what to memorize.)... I suppose another fine option would be to ask one's guardian angel because they are probably keen to see us spend more time on figuratively eating healthy food.
A guy on Youtube who promotes ancient languages was doing a "memorize the first 100 lines of Homer in the original" challenge earlier this year, which I had zero interest in, but since the challenge was described as memorizing "poetry" it seemed to me that John 1 would be a pretty fine thing. I have memorized one (1) line since then. I am not a very fast learner (he did have some stellar tips on how to do memorization, pragmatically, and maybe during the break I will give it a shot and acquire another verse or two.)
Such a good point - I've started to have some psalms close to memorized through praying Liturgy of the Hours, but then no other source has the same translation and I'm thrown off balance! Not to mention they are apparently changing the LOH translation soon anyway... I know it's not an excuse not to memorize Scripture, but it sure would be nice for one really great standard translation everyone knows.
I have nothing kind to say about the Allen piece - I'm disgusted. I strongly side with each and every one of the things Mr Flynn said in reply. Please Pillar writers, for the love of God and his children, do not let this case die.
Oh, and memorizing scripture is fun. We Catholics should definitely do more of it. It's like a secret code language we can use when we're talking in public with our Protestant brethren, especially nowadays when the Bible is hardly the familiar cultural bedrock it once was.
Memorization of Scripture is eminently Catholic . . . as long as we remember that the Catholic Church didn't begin with the Counter-Reformation. The Fathers of the Church and the medieval doctors had a good deal of Scripture committed to memory but not necessarily with chapter and verse references - but that's because chapters were only added to the biblical text in the 13th century and verses in the 16th. Obadiah is great . . . but the best and easiest place to start is the psalms. Praying the liturgy of the hours is a great way to encourage this. If you have young kids and/or grandkids, memorize some psalms together with them. My wife and I did that 30 yrs ago with our kids, and now they are teaching those psalms to their kids. We pray these psalms together from memory at family vacations and holidays.
Easier to memorise the Psalms if chanted.
Agreed! Are you familiar with Paul Rose and Sing the Hours? We are fans.
No, I’m not.
Will check it out.
Thanks.
Thank you!
JD, the quote from JP2 encouraging scripture memorization from 1979 . . . can you please provide a reference?
catechesi tradendae
I'm picturing J.D. writing today's Pillar Post whilst quietly humming from The Prince of Egypt to himself: "I send my scourge, I send my sword, Thus sayest the LORD!"
"we might well have hit upon a crux of the problem." - We see what you did there. :)
With the Allen piece, you reminded me of Cdl. O'Malley [see recent story] here, saying very strong things with surprising gentleness. Allen's reputation for being well-sourced is renown, and his statements about not burning sources public, so I would tend to agree with your take that he is carrying water for Perra et al, probably trying to stay on the right side of them as sources. But the mortal sin here is passing off editorializing (for someone else!) as news journalism. (Terry Mattingly, call your office.)
I have come to believe John L. Allen Jr. is the Neil DeGrasse Tyson of catholic journalists. This can be interpreted in both a positive way, and in a negative way. Both are intended.
JD, you should recite Obadiah, by heart, on the podcast this week!
I am often reminded of this quote from HIllarire Belloc: "... The Catholic Church is an institution I am bound to hold divine - but for unbelievers a proof of its divinity might be found in the fact that no merely human institution conducted with such knavish imbecility would have lasted a fortnight ..." There is plenty of knavish imbecility to go around these days. The "old boy" network of favors for who you know is very disturbing. There is either a system of Canon Law or there is not. A very loved pastor in my city was laicized because of alleged sexual crimes a few years ago. No one swooped down like a deus ex machina to save his vocation and career. I thank the Pillar staff for their work. However, it gets very demoralizing. What can we do as rank and file Catholics other than pray? The curia is not elected by popular vote, so we can't vote them out. They are self-perpetuating. We need to pray and suffer the rule of Christ's Church done in a fashion of knavish imbecility.
Sadly the only real vote we have, affecting our local church for Curial miscreance, is our offertory envelope/electronic contribution. Beyond that one’s only choice is to vote with your feet.
Become holy, so your prayers become more efficacious. Fasting will give them a boost too.
There are a number of organizations that help victims of sexual abuse; I try to help Metanoia out. Study your faith, including moral theology, so you don't get twisted around by knavish imbeciles, and so you will be ready to speak and work for justice when and if God puts you in a position to do so. Try to encourage others to do the same.
> What can we do as rank and file Catholics other than pray?
That's like what can I do when I'm hungry other than cook dinner? :) (sorry, I'm hungry and ordered a pizza and am waiting for it to arrive.) To pray (and fast and give alms) is the ordinary thing for laypeople to do to make the Church holy. A rising tide of holiness will lift all boats that are still seaworthy. But why not think outside the box? If what the Church needs is MORE SAINTS (I think this is generally acknowledged), what is the fastest way to generate more saints (other than to beg God "make me a saint", which is always the first thing to try)? There are as far as I know a bunch of souls in purgatory that are currently sweating off their debt, for whom we could accelerate the process and obtain new intercessors in heaven who are eager to return favors. I am not sure that this is the equivalent of ordering pizza but I had to put in a good word for them because they are having a very hard time in there, or down there, or whatever the right preposition is.
Or pray for the conversion of those who are going to die today who are not yet in a state of grace. According to Luke 7:47 the one who has been forgiven much loves much. And probably flies through Purgatory for that reason.
Happy birthday, Mrs. F!
And the Allen issue strikes me very much akin to what the State Department calls clientitis, which is when you start arguing the country where you’re stationed’s interests back to the U.S., rather than the U.S.’s interests to the client. It’s a common enough phenomenon it’s got a name, and the main solution State has is rotating people out of jobs so they don’t “go native.”
Let’s hope Allen isn’t becoming a Vatican Walter Duranty…
Wow! Love the pilgrimage idea. I had already looked up the disability jubilee (for my dependents) and I cannot because it's during the school year; I have set my sights on early June instead but I want to know all the things.
Thanks to The Pillar for keeping the flame of Catholic journalism alive. The Principi story is disheartening in many ways but most especially for the corrupting influence of homosexuality on the Church as a whole, on the Curia and governance, and--most importantly--on the faithful, especially the victims and their families. Shame on Pope Francis for allowing Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra to remain in his office.
I have written this before and will share again: Homosexuality corrupts; clerical homosexuality (especially in the episcopate and curia!) corrupts absolutely. I applaud and pray for the continued fidelity of men and women who participate in Courage International apostolate--but that is not what we're talking about here. This is unabashed corruption on behalf of an abusive, manipulative, homosexual cleric--in 2024!!! That John Allen and Crux are implicated in excusing the behavior is simply more evidence of the corrupting power of active homosexuals in the clergy.
The presence of active homosexuals in the priesthood--and most especially in the episcopacy--is a cancer on the Bride of Christ. Homosexuality is inherently corrupting, and because of the nature of their priestly and pastoral roles, the corruption cannot be limited to their own personal sphere. As evident here, the cancer inevitably spreads to those around them and affects the entire Church, cf. clerical abuse scandals in the U.S., drug-fueled homosexual orgies in the Vatican, and now this. The legacy of these sexual abuse scandals in the US and other countries, which were overwhelmingly homosexual in nature, is the clearest example of how it affects the entire Church: children robbed of their innocence, trust, and faith in God; families torn asunder by the horrific consequences of the abuse; the missionary and salvific teaching of the Church is rejected because of clerical hypocrisy; priests, bishops, the Pope and the Church everywhere became the object of scorn, derision, and mistrust; the faithful are so scandalized to the point that many left the Church; vocations plummeted and entire parishes were closed; beautiful and majestic churches--built by the donations of the faithful for the glory of God--are sold and desacralized for base purposes; diocese after diocese was subjected to lawsuits and forced to pay out tens of millions, sometimes, hundreds of millions to settle the lawsuits, squandering the hard-earned donation of the faithful that could and should have gone to charitable work, vocations, and catechesis. Faithful and uncorrupted bishops must rise to their Apostolic vocation and call for vigorous and transparent investigations. Moreover, they--the faithful bishops--must be willing to call out any and all who shelter or make excuses for abusers, including Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra! By all means, let the abusers seek God's forgiveness through confession and penance, but for the love of God and all that is holy, do not—under any circumstances—ever allow these men to remain in any position of authority in the Church.
JD’s recent article, like so many others, underscores the deep systemic issues plaguing the Catholic Church, particularly its ongoing failure to implement and adhere to the transparent, accountable governance processes promised during Pope Francis’s reform efforts. While The Pillar does a courageous job exposing these failures and consistently pounding the drum on their seriousness, no Catholic journalist seems willing to take the next step: articulating the foreseeable consequences in stark, unavoidable terms.
The Catholic Church claims to be the one true apostolic Church, uniquely guided by the Holy Spirit. Yet, it consistently undermines the rule of law and proves incapable of upholding its own moral and doctrinal teachings. What is the consequence of that? It renders the Church’s central claim—that it is divinely inspired and guided—untenable in the eyes of the faithful.
The deeply ingrained culture of clericalism—one that cannot be expunged even to protect the Church’s most vulnerable members—further compounds this crisis. What is the result? The faithful will increasingly withdraw their support, both spiritually and financially. The mounting billion-dollar civil judgments for abuse cases and the lack of credibility to attract new donors or believers will leave the Church financially crippled, unable to fulfill its mission.
If the Church is seen as corrupt at its core, it becomes increasingly difficult to reconcile this reality with the belief that it is divinely inspired. A just and omnipotent God does not promote or permit false prophets or corrupt leaders to represent His will. This fundamental contradiction, then, will lead many to question not just the institution but the very foundation of its divine mission. The Church will no longer be considered divinely guided, for how could God allow such corruption at the heart of His most sacred institution?
This is what I am personally struggling with and it's growing harder by the day. How can I associate without it being implied I'm okay with this?
Speak out against what's going on while remaining in the Church.
I can voice my opposition (and have) and do what I can financially (not a dime to anything I know goes back to Rome) but saying "I'm Catholic" is an affirmation and one that it's growing hard to be proud of when the Pope is clearly at best turning a blind eye to what his Bishops are doing.
Move to a diocese with an outstanding bishop.
My Bishop is unpopular with all the right Cardinals so I'm good there. fortunately.
Sue, I’m late to this piece so bear with me. Speaking out is like shouting into a void. The corruption of the institution is vast; even an individual bishop, if he even wanted to, couldn’t cause a ripple. After working for the church for 11 years and toward the later years seeing a corrupt and destructive bishop up close, I can say the institution, like all of them, exists to protect its prerogatives. And after their war on women’s health care, the final (but not only) straw, I departed. My faith in Jesus Christ is abundant, but I cannot abide this corrupt institution.
The most common perpetrator of child sexual abuse is the mother's cohabitating boyfriend.
Doctors have about twice the rate of predators as Catholic priests. School teachers aren't as bad as doctors, but still worse than priests.
This is a societal problem.
But what Sue said is right. If you want to avoid the implication that you're ok with it, then speak and act like you are not ok with it.
As I mentioned above I can do that and have but the rot is so high up and isn't getting better. it's getting worse.
I wonder if it is getting worse, or are we just seeing more of what’s been there for a long time? I think some things might need to get even worse than they already are (as horrific as that sounds) before hitting rock bottom and getting better. There needs to be a reckoning, and I do think it’s starting to happen in some parts of the world, thanks in part to reporting by The Pillar.
I think there's a bit of a generational effect. US seminaries (and probably others worldwide) were absolutely awful for many decades. Some of them seemed to be places I wouldn't send my enemies. The men vetted and formed by that are the current crop of bishops, since the last generation has died. Society's general distaste for priests has done a lot to clear out some of the guys who don't really believe. There's also been a big effort at getting the seminaries better, but they're still not phenomenal, and the current crop of bishops can probably still pick rotten ones for promotion. Based on that, I think we're getting into the turning of the tide, but it'll be a while yet before it's out, and the scandals have, by virtue of the generational shift, taken over many more of the higher positions. That serves to make them both more powerful, and more public when/if they are caught.
I do not think this means we can just chill and wait it out. I think the efforts to bring things into the light, and to see abusers and the complicit removed, is essential, and that it's still going to take a lot of time before things look like any of those efforts have been successful.
This began as a societal problem, but the statistics you are citing are only based on convictions. We are only at the tip of the iceberg as far as actual convictions of clerical abusers. (As evidenced by the wave of recent diocesan bankruptcy declarations.) It is well-known that many, if not most, American seminaries have been preferring sexually deviant men for decades. (Several earned the nick-name “Pink Palace” because this preference for homosexual candidates was so obvious.) This cancer will take decades to heal, and cannot happen without a rebirth of holiness among families supplying the men for the priesthood, and an overhaul of the American seminary system. Although the first step, is to keep our peerless Pillar reporters shining the light of truth on stories like the Principi case.
I agree the statistics are the tip of the iceberg. But they are also the tip of the iceberg for all the other demographics. Schools (aided by the secular news) have been covering up this stuff for at least as long as the Church has, and one of the few doctors who made the news for this, made it in part because the FBI was involved in the coverup. I am making an assumption that all the statistics are underestimating the problem by about the same amount.
> The Church will no longer be considered divinely guided, for how could God allow such corruption at the heart of His most sacred institution?
Anyone wondering this *does* need to embark on the Flynn Scripture Challenge because to allow corruption is literally God's modus operandi at least half the time. Let me sing you a song about my vineyard; I went on a sabbatical and at harvest time sent messengers to ask the tenants for the produce, but instead they beat the stuffin' out of my servants, and finally I sent my son *knowing full well that they would kill him* (given that his son says repeatedly to his son's closest friends "the Son of Man must be handed over &c."). God is (by the standards of the world) either insane or an idiot, and we *have* to internalize this basic fact because when (if) we are taken up into the internal life of the Trinity it is as members of the *Son* and so we should take a good hard look at how upside-down his life is from what we would consider success.