Patheos blog
June 9, 2019
By Msgr. Eric Barr
Great bluegrass song out called “In Hell I’ll Be In Good Company.” By the time summer ends, we Catholics will be humming it as we grapple with the crisis in the Church once again. Looks like last year’s Cardinal scandal will have a sequel this year after the Washington Post’s expose of Bishop Bransfield of West Virginia. But before we get on the bandwagon of bashing priests, bishops, etc. again, perhaps we Catholics could all agree to share the guilt. Just a thought. It’s controversial. I should know. For fifteen years I was either the Vicar for Clergy or the Vicar General delegated with the responsibility for ministering to the priests, educating the junior clergy and clergy of the diocese, and helping out or disciplining priests who found themselves with serious problems. I mention all that to establish some street cred. Why? Because this column might cause us all to rethink our presuppositions.
Sharing The Blame
The crisis in the Church centering on the misuse of episcopal authority and the sexual abuse by priests is a horrible and terrible scandal. It has led to the worst crisis in the Church since the Reformation. Granted. But it does no good for the laity simply to savage guilty priests or bishops (though they richly deserve it), call for the abolition of the priesthood, or even seek a reform of the priesthood. The Church has a lot of problems but the crisis is not specifically the problem of the ordained. All Catholics have to take some responsibility. In fact, it’s bigger than all the members of the Church. Here’s why.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.