Church Needs to Condemn Less and Understand More

By Joan Burnie
Daily Record
March 1, 2013

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/church-needs-condemn-less-understand-1736502

Cardinal Keith O'Brien

NO doubt by resigning, Cardinal O’Brien has done the right thing, at least by his church.

And, anyway, it had zilch to do with those unfortunate allegations over the weekend.

Nothing whatsoever. Just a happy, or possibly, unhappy coincidence.

As if we ever thought anything else.

But whether the Catholic Church – and indeed throughout his time in office, the Cardinal has done itself any favours with its strident obsession with sex and peripheral issues, such as gay marriage, is debatable.

I’m not religious but I have long thought that if the hierarchy had concentrated more on matters of social injustice instead of a downright unhealthy, if publicity-generating, interest in what consenting adults do with each other in private, they might be more respected.

Nor did it help that, when it came to those multiple, obscene, non-consensual acts of child abuse, the Church too often closed ranks, stuck its fingers in its ears and largely ignored the problem.

It is surely wrong too that when the new Pope is chosen, two of those casting their ballots will be Cardinal Sean Brady of Armagh and Los Angeles’s Roger Mahony – both of whom played the game of pass the pervert priests around the parishes.

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Personally, I think that for which they stand accused is infinitely worse than any of these allegations made against Cardinal O’Brien.

Meanwhile, is this really the best time, when half the Earth’s population doesn’t have sufficient food to eat, for the Vatican to hang out, not only its hypocrisy, but its immense wealth as the cardinals troop into Rome in their excessive pomp and circumstance?

I remember when I did the Vatican tour, I wondered what the poor man from Galilee would have made of all its gilded, 24-carat golden splendour.

How were all those amazing, breathtaking riches acquired and for what?

Maybe the church needs to get back to basics, to become simpler, less autocratic and to learn a little humility, as well as being less concerned about what goes on in people’s bedrooms.

Jesus didn’t have too much to say about sex, did he?

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The tragedy is that while the faithful in developed nations tend not to bother too much about the dictats against contraception and so on, those in the Third World do, with the obvious consequences, including the increase in sexually transmitted diseases.

Not that the Catholic Church is the only organisation that has become arrogant, bloated and out of touch.

The BBC – where those who fail get kicked upstairs with a pay hike and high-faluting, but meaningless, titles – are just as bad. It’s only those who actually do the job at the sharp end who get the boot. Ditto the NHS.

It too is awash with overpaid managers, while those in the wards are made redundant to pay for their incompetent bosses’ ever-inflated salaries, pensions – and mistakes.

And, of course, all three of them welcomed, honoured and fawned over Jimmy Savile.

As they cast their votes, the cardinals should remember that a fish rots from the head down.