(Sunday Gospel John 6:60-69)
SCANDALS have rocked the Church time and time again. One fellow priest commented that “these are difficult times for the Catholic Church, for all of us, as the betrayal by so many bishops and priests of their sacred vocation has been coming to light in recent weeks.” This is in the light of the recent investigations into Catholic clerical sex abuse of minors in the United States which was made public. The report named at least 300 priests accused of child sex abuse by more than 1,000 victims throughout one state.
As a priest, I feel ashamed, angry and out of words after reading parts of the victims’ testimonies of how they were abused. Pope Francis released a letter to address this recent scandal. In it he wrote, “With shame and repentance, we acknowledge as an ecclesiastical community that we were not where we should have been, that we did not act in a timely manner, realizing the magnitude and the gravity of the damage done to so many lives. We showed no care for the little ones; we abandoned them...”
St. Paul writes in his first letter to the church in Corinth, “Look, here am I preaching of crucified Christ -- a crucified Christ, one who rejected violence even to defend himself, who gave himself over to death out of love, responding to hatred and violence with love. Here am I preaching of crucified Christ to so many of the Jews, a scandal that they cannot get over; to the pagans, madness.”
Jesus Christ is the true scandal that counters and heals the scandal of clerical abuse. It is the scandal of Jesus offering his own flesh and blood - the Holy Eucharist. Jesus from his birth to his death was a scandal. He was born of the Virgin Mary in a manger meant for animals. He ate with sinners, lepers, tax-collectors, women and children. He was crucified on the cross. And He claimed to be the Son of God.
As a young priest working with the youth, I feel hurt and dismayed at how we as pastors and shepherds have abandoned the persons we are called to care for and to love. They who committed these atrocities should and must face the consequences of their actions. When we seek justice for victims of extrajudicial killings, we must first seek justice for victims of clerical abuses within our own home. As much as we want to protect the name of the priest, we must strive to protect every child from abuse and neglect.
In 2002, the bishops of the Philippines wrote a letter “Hope in the Midst of Crises,” where the bishops admitted to clerical abuses: “We confess that cases of grave sexual misconduct by clerics and religious in the Philippines...” Then again in 2016 the bishops issued a pastoral letter entitled “You did it to me! (Matthew 25:40): Pastoral Exhortation on the” Pastoral Care and Protection of Minors,” where the bishops “with sadness, shame and contrition,” acknowledged “that some members of the clergy have committed these offenses,” a serious violation of their sacred promises but also of Jesus’ own “strict command that children are not only to be welcomed with affection, but that every care must be taken to put no stumbling block in their way.”
Furthermore what is more important is that the bishops acknowledged “among our sins of omission we must count as most serious, failing to pay heed to complaints of abusive conduct by members of the clergy, and our failure to act decisively against the errant and protectively towards their victims.” The bishops in this pastoral letter provided pastoral guidelines and norms to be followed to address issues of clerical child abuse.
As priests let us continue to fraternally correct each other. If we encounter difficulties and anxieties, let us seek help. If we find one brother - priest struggling, approach him and reach out. Let us return to the Holy Eucharist, to Jesus Christ.
Priests go through years of formation in the seminary. Reforms have been taken to take into consideration aspects about human development and sexuality and to address clericalism. Cardinal Tagle once commented that “Ecclesiastical customs and persons, when naively and narrowly deified and glorified, might become hindrances to true worship and compassion.” Priests should not be deified and glorified. We are not gods nor kings. We are creatures and shepherds.
My ordaining bishop reminded everyone that “ordination to the priesthood does not make a priest an ‘angel or superman.’ He remains fully a man with all the weaknesses and trials human beings experience. He is capable of committing sin... He is not exempted from temptation. Ordination changes the status of a man but it does not change a man’s qualities.” He then admonished the laity not to spoil or possess the priest but to pray for priests. Pray for us!
The bishops concluded in their letter “Even as Jesus convicts us for our lack of faith, we likewise make our way to him and plaintively ask, Lord, what shall we do? The words of Micah the Prophet ring loud and strong, “You know what the Lord God expects of you: to act justly, to love tenderly and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8).”
Today in our gospel Jesus is asking you, “Do you also wish to go away?”
Will you say with Peter, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”
I will stay.