Real Love Incorporated - Articles » Responding to Scandal

Last month I wrote about priestly scandals. Specifically, about what a bummer it is for the faithful when a priest violates their trust. We talked about the fact that priests, even though they stand in the person of Christ, are really just basic human persons with basic human weaknesses – and some are much weaker than others.

This time I want to talk about how we respond to that weakness.

It’s ironic that, just last night, a friend of mine was telling me about a homily he had just heard – about scandals in the Church. The priest pointed out that it didn’t take long for the young Church to experience her first scandal. In fact, we had two of them before Jesus even ascended into Heaven. In the first, one of Christ’s closest disciples betrayed Him, handing him over to be crucified in exchange for 30 pieces of silver. In the second, that very same night, another close follower publicly denied Christ – three times. Imagine how those early followers of Christ must’ve felt when they heard about those apostles and their cowardly behavior.

We’ve been dealing with this stuff for a really long time.

As we discussed last time, scandal is particularly difficult for those who were introduced to the faith by a particular priest – either directly through interaction with that priest, or indirectly through involvement with a work or movement that the priest founded. In their minds they often come to associate the teachings with the teacher. And so, when presented with evidence that the teacher has done something scandalous, they find themselves faced with a dilemma. How could their faith be good if the teacher isn’t so good?

The natural desire here is to want to somehow reconcile the two. The first way they may attempt to do that is by deciding that if the teacher wasn’t entirely “for real”, then the faith must not be real either. They question everything they’ve learned. “How can I believe anything he said, knowing what I now know?” Some actually walk away from the Catholic faith.

Others go in the opposite direction. They refuse, sometimes even in the face of overwhelming evidence, to believe that priest could possibly have done what he is accused of doing. They insist that the priest must be innocent. To acknowledge anything else, in their minds, would be tantamount to denying their very faith. So they organize rallies and collect money for legal defense. They defend the man as if their very faith depends on it. Because, in their minds, it does.

All of this is good, to a certain extent. We need to examine what we learn – particularly when realize that the teacher had problems of which we were unaware. We also need to closely examine accusations. Plenty of innocent men – priestly and otherwise – are falsely accused in this world. It’s very important to defend the truly innocent.

But it’s also important to be open to finding the truth, wherever it leads.

God doesn’t cause human scandals. I can’t imagine it could cause Him anything but Divine grief to see the pain that is caused when His priests go astray. But I do believe that God uses these scandals, if we’re open to Him, to strengthen and purify our faith.

God gives different gifts to different teachers. Each of those gifts has different benefits, and different risks. Priests with very charismatic personalities can be very powerful in leading people to Christ. But the danger is that the attractiveness of the priest’s personality can actually distract those people. They think they’re worshiping Christ, but in a certain way they’re really “worshipping” that priest, or the experience of hearing that priest, or something else that feels very religious but really isn’t focused entirely on God.

I once attended a parish where the very popular pastor was removed in the wake of a scandal. One of the parishioners told me “Well, now we’re going to find out who was here worshipping Christ, and who was here worshipping the pastor.”

Scandals give us the opportunity to examine, and purify, our faith. Were we putting our faith in this man instead of putting it in God? Had we intertwined the two so tightly that God came to be associated primarily with this priest or his work?

Second, we need to examine what we know about that faith? Did he, or his work, teach or imply anything that’s at odds with the teaching or understanding of the Catholic faith? This is the time to delve into the teachings of the Church. Read the Catechism, the Church fathers, the documents of Vatican II. Talk to other holy people. Sift out the chaff from the wheat.

My one final point – all priests need our prayers. They are ordinary human men, with ordinary human struggles. But they stand in the person of Christ, and that makes them significant targets of Satan. Getting a layperson to fall hurts the layperson himself, but if a priest can be tempted to fall, hundreds or even thousands can be brought down by the scandal.

Please pray for those who are caught in the crosshairs of priestly scandals. And pray for priests – all priests.


	Responding to Scandal How do we respond when we're let down by the priests who led us to Christ? May 10, 2009 Last month I wrote about priestly scandals. Specifically, about what a bummer it is for the faithful when a priest violates their trust. We talked about the fact that priests, even though they stand in the person of Christ, are really just basic human persons with basic human weaknesses – and some are much weaker than others. This time I want to talk about how we respond to that weakness. It’s ironic that, just last night, a friend of mine was telling me about a homily he had just heard – about scandals in the Church. The priest pointed out that it didn’t take long for the young Church to experience her first scandal. In fact, we had two of them before Jesus even ascended into Heaven. In the first, one of Christ’s closest disciples betrayed Him, handing him over to be crucified in exchange for 30 pieces of silver. In the second, that very same night, another close follower publicly denied Christ – three times. Imagine how those early followers of Christ must’ve felt when they heard about those apostles and their cowardly behavior. We’ve been dealing with this stuff for a really long time. As we discussed last time, scandal is particularly difficult for those who were introduced to the faith by a particular priest – either directly through interaction with that priest, or indirectly through involvement with a work or movement that the priest founded. In their minds they often come to associate the teachings with the teacher. And so, when presented with evidence that the teacher has done something scandalous, they find themselves faced with a dilemma. How could their faith be good if the teacher isn’t so good? The natural desire here is to want to somehow reconcile the two. The first way they may attempt to do that is by deciding that if the teacher wasn’t entirely “for real”, then the faith must not be real either. They question everything they’ve learned. “How can I believe anything he said, knowing what I now know?” Some actually walk away from the Catholic faith. Others go in the opposite direction. They refuse, sometimes even in the face of overwhelming evidence, to believe that priest could possibly have done what he is accused of doing. They insist that the priest must be innocent. To acknowledge anything else, in their minds, would be tantamount to denying their very faith. So they organize rallies and collect money for legal defense. They defend the man as if their very faith depends on it. Because, in their minds, it does. All of this is good, to a certain extent. We need to examine what we learn – particularly when realize that the teacher had problems of which we were unaware. We also need to closely examine accusations. Plenty of innocent men – priestly and otherwise – are falsely accused in this world. It’s very important to defend the truly innocent. But it’s also important to be open to finding the truth, wherever it leads. God doesn’t cause human scandals. I can’t imagine it could cause Him anything but Divine grief to see the pain that is caused when His priests go astray. But I do believe that God uses these scandals, if we’re open to Him, to strengthen and purify our faith. God gives different gifts to different teachers. Each of those gifts has different benefits, and different risks. Priests with very charismatic personalities can be very powerful in leading people to Christ. But the danger is that the attractiveness of the priest’s personality can actually distract those people. They think they’re worshiping Christ, but in a certain way they’re really “worshipping” that priest, or the experience of hearing that priest, or something else that feels very religious but really isn’t focused entirely on God. I once attended a parish where the very popular pastor was removed in the wake of a scandal. One of the parishioners told me “Well, now we’re going to find out who was here worshipping Christ, and who was here worshipping the pastor.” Scandals give us the opportunity to examine, and purify, our faith. Were we putting our faith in this man instead of putting it in God? Had we intertwined the two so tightly that God came to be associated primarily with this priest or his work? Second, we need to examine what we know about that faith? Did he, or his work, teach or imply anything that’s at odds with the teaching or understanding of the Catholic faith? This is the time to delve into the teachings of the Church. Read the Catechism, the Church fathers, the documents of Vatican II. Talk to other holy people. Sift out the chaff from the wheat. My one final point – all priests need our prayers. They are ordinary human men, with ordinary human struggles. But they stand in the person of Christ, and that makes them significant targets of Satan. Getting a layperson to fall hurts the layperson himself, but if a priest can be tempted to fall, hundreds or even thousands can be brought down by the scandal. Please pray for those who are caught in the crosshairs of priestly scandals. And pray for priests – all priests.