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	The Two Catholic Churches By Philip Mathias National Post (Canada) November 7, 2009 http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2009/11/07/ philip-mathias-the-two-catholic-churches.aspx Is the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) being "bashed" these days, as writer Michael Coren recently claimed on these pages? Coren even goes so far as to say that RCC-bashing is "the last acceptable prejudice" in Western society — which suggests an element of base religious bigotry. On the other hand, is it possible that the torrent of criticism aimed at the Church is both fair and constructive? To answer that question, it's necessary to realize the RCC is two things. First, it is a community of believers trying to live according to the teachings of Jesus, who said, along with much else, "love your enemy." If everybody lived by such admonitions, the world would simply be transformed. In that sense, the Catholic church is above reproach, except insofar as its adherents fall short of its magnificent ideals. But the RCC is also an institution, made up of the priests and bishops who run it, and it presents the usual institutional pathologies: corporate arrogance, personal ambition, etc. As an institution, the RCC always badly needs tough criticism. Even Catholics are abused by this institution. In the 1930s, a priest in Malta refused to return my mother's marriage certificate after she submitted it as proof of her identity in an inheritance inquiry. The priest told her: "What comes into the Church stays in the Church." In the 1970s, I tried to give Church officials proof that a big swindler had penetrated the Vatican. I was dismissed with scorn as a layman outside the inner circle. The following year, the Vatican Bank helped spirit away $1.2-billion from a bank in Milan, causing it to collapse. In the 1980s, Ontario's bishops tried to obstruct a provincial government bill that would outlaw discrimination against gays. Alarmed, I phoned the bishops' office for an explanation and was told: "Who are you to question the bishops?" This high conceit is not uncommon, but it still does not negate the self-sacrifice of the same priests and bishops, particularly when they serve the faithful in church. In that way, church and institution are distinct but inseparable, often co-existing in a single high-handed yet devout person. The latest RCC scandal features priests who preyed on minors. The numbers of these ordained sex criminals may be such as to exceed the ratio of pedophiles in society at large. But that's not the principal question. The shock for Catholics is that bishops all over the world have moved offending priests from parishes where their criminal appetites had been discovered to places in which they could secretly continue their predatory behavior: apparently an ancient practice, now exposed. Cover-ups occurred from Newfoundland through Boston to dioceses across the United States. Even today, people in Ireland are reeling from a report of allegedly "endemic" sexual abuse in orphanages and other Catholic institutions. Many of Ireland's prelates were involved in the cover-ups. Bishops have also fought the victims' legitimate claims. The bishops' strategy was to shield the institution (and therefore themselves) from scandal by exposing fresh children to known sexual predators. They betrayed the church, which nevertheless still endures unblemished: Most priests still conduct the Mass with reverence, while the faithful still plead with God to help them lead better lives. The RCC is often criticized by Protestants for its more exotic teachings, like The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven, which is not Bible-based and is unhelpful to many Catholics. Outsiders will also dispute the Pope's claim of infallibility, even though, within the Church, there is a sense that this hubristic dogma is slipping into the shadows of history. When outsiders denounce these RCC teachings, they are not really "bashing" the church. They are testing Catholic beliefs by forceful opposition to them. It's the RCC institution that needs to be truly "bashed," and that may be constructive. For example, the Church's teaching on morality is often severe. Pope John Paul II declared that if a man eyes his wife lustfully, he is committing adultery by turning her, in that moment, into a sex object. Having seen the breathtaking sleaze of the holy bishops, Catholics may now wonder: "Are the Pope and the bishops forcing such extreme 'purity' on us because it is the will of Jesus … or are they using it to enhance their power over the lives of laypeople?" So, let the "bashing" continue. It may provide a valuable moral catharsis. On the other hand, may God bless the Catholic church and always keep it safe from harm. National Post Contact: philipmathias@sympatico.ca
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