Roman Catholic Church Should Be As Christ Intended It to Be, by Ken Hills, Guelph Mercury, September 8, 2010

Roman Catholic Church Should Be As Christ Intended It to Be

By Ken Hills
Guelph Mercury
September 8, 2010

http://news.guelphmercury.com/Opinions/EditorialOpinion/article/686061

I believe that since Christ’s death and resurrection, the church has been run by worldly priests, bishops, cardinals and popes, too many of whom have been seduced by the trappings of a materialistic world and the potential of power to the sacrifice of all that was intended by Christ and for all that He died.

At crucial times in their ministry, many failed to answer the question: What would Jesus do? For those theologians and other church leaders who support the separation of church and state, in that the church remains accountable only to itself, are you prepared to allow your church to break the law and not be accountable to it? Are you really supporting your church when it aids and abets pedophiles by covering up crimes and simply moving offenders to other parishes just to show that it is doing something?

Since 2002, according to Bishops Accountability.org , the church has paid out more than $3 billion in lawsuits and hush money. Church officials have been given huge budgets to hush abuse claims. Why are they doing this? The church that was started by the son of God is not the church that Jesus intended it to be. Recently, a priest said to me that he could not understand why a priest would abuse the innocent and the vulnerable. To that priest and to others who wrestle with this question, I recommend two books: Woman Are Defective Males, by Grace Walker, and The Irish Tragedy, by Joe Riegert. I also recommend these books to the priests and pastors who can’t understand why church attendance has declined so dramatically, why there are longer lines for communion and shorter lines for the confessional.

Walker quotes Thomas Aquinas, regarded by many as the greatest theologian and church philosopher when he says: “As regards the individual nature, woman is defective and misbegotten, for the active power of the male seed tends to the production of a perfect likeness in the masculine sex, while production of a woman comes from defect in the active power.” This quote can be confirmed by referring to what is generally described as Aquinas’ greatest work, Summa Theologica.

I apologize to the many wonderful priests and clergy who dedicate themselves to God and to the service of God. But I can no longer remain silent. I was born a Catholic and continue to practise my faith because I believe in the sacraments of the church. I also know that the battle of good and evil continues today as it did in the time of Christ. Why would a priest, ordained to be a true representative of God, abuse the innocent? You might ask why would Judas Iscariot turn on Jesus?

As humans, most of us are lured by the seduction of a materialistic world, giving little or no thought to the marginalized of our society, to those whom Jesus would first take care of. Modern technology tells us what clothes to wear, what cars to drive, what vacations to take, what morals to have. Basically, it seems that the overriding moral dictated by technology is that anything goes as long as you don’t hurt anyone. As parents, is that the message you want your child to have — that it is OK to tell a lie, steal an article, or cheat on a test as long as you don’t hurt anyone? Is that really the message you want your child to have?

I want the Catholic church, my church, to be the way Jesus wanted it to be. I want to see constant evidence of the messages from the greatest sermon ever given, the Sermon On The Mount. I am proud of all of the dedicated workers within the church and all the works of mercy they perform. But I want the church to let its light shine and become a beacon of love and hope for all people. I want the church to confess its transgressions, ask for forgiveness and follow the example of the many beautiful and dedicated Christians who work daily in the church.

In the true spirit of the prayer that Jesus taught us, I want the church to “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” I believe we all need to be accountable for our actions. That message extends to our businesses, our governments and our churches. I also believe, as Christians, that when confronted with a moral dilemma that calls for difficult decisions, we need to answer but one question. What would Jesus do?

Ken Hills is a Guelph author and was a youth victim of sexual abuse by an Ontario Catholic priest. His last book, Requiem for Black Shoes, was a novel based on his experience as a survivor of that abuse.