I'm not sure I can trust the Church?
The Church has made mistakes and done wrong as demonstrated in the sexul abuse crises.
Sexual abuse of anyone is a tragedy, a crime, a serious sin and a scandal. That such sexual abuse has occurred in the Church is extremely hurtful.
That some priests have sexually abused children and some Bishops failed to report such incidents or reassigned priests who committed such abuse makes this a horrendous crime and sin.
Every effort needs to be made to provide as much healing as possible for the victims who have been so deeply wounded.
That some have left the Church because of this scandal is understandable. Such actions add to the sorrow and pain of life for those who sincerely try to live as disciples of Jesus Christ in the Church.
That some priests have sexually abused children and some Bishops failed to report such incidents or reassigned priests who committed such abuse makes this a horrendous crime and sin.
Every effort needs to be made to provide as much healing as possible for the victims who have been so deeply wounded.
That some have left the Church because of this scandal is understandable. Such actions add to the sorrow and pain of life for those who sincerely try to live as disciples of Jesus Christ in the Church.
Saint Pope John Paul II once wrote
"There can be no future without peace,
There can be no peace without justice,
There can be no justice without forgiveness."
"There can be no future without peace,
There can be no peace without justice,
There can be no justice without forgiveness."
Tragedy, sin, suffering and sorrow are not the end of the story. Jesus' Resurrection tells us that there is a future without crying out in pain or sorrow. There is a future of joy, peace, love and life. True, we will not fully experience this in our lifetime on earth. But it will happen.
Peace is not simply the absence of conflict but the building up of right relationships. But peace can only develop if there is justice. Justice means acknowledging that some wrong has been committed and some restitution has been made.
When a wrong has been done no act of restiution can fully make up for that wrong nor can a person's life be what it once was. That is why some form of forgiveness needs to occur. To forgive does not mean to forget. Forgiveness lies between remembering and forgetting. A person who has been wounded, in whatever way, needs to remember enought not to naively put them self in harm's way again. At the same time only if they can forgive or let go of trying to be 100% compensated for what has happened can those involved move into the future with some sense of peace and home.
Peace is not simply the absence of conflict but the building up of right relationships. But peace can only develop if there is justice. Justice means acknowledging that some wrong has been committed and some restitution has been made.
When a wrong has been done no act of restiution can fully make up for that wrong nor can a person's life be what it once was. That is why some form of forgiveness needs to occur. To forgive does not mean to forget. Forgiveness lies between remembering and forgetting. A person who has been wounded, in whatever way, needs to remember enought not to naively put them self in harm's way again. At the same time only if they can forgive or let go of trying to be 100% compensated for what has happened can those involved move into the future with some sense of peace and home.
Summary:
- Sexual Abuse is a tragedy, a crime, a sin and a scandal.
- The Church has made every effort to provide healing and restitution to every sexual abuse victim.
- Because the Church is a world wide community of local communities (dioceses) there is always more to be done.
- The Church has taken steps to make reparation and prevent this from happening again by providing "safe envrionment training" to all children in its care and making clear to all employees, especially, the clergy how wrong this is and that there is a zero tolerance policy in place.
I've had a bad experience and can't see myself returning to the Church.
In the course of ordinary day to day life, almost everyone experiences some disappointment from a companion, a friend, or an organization they belong to. Most understand that is part of the human condition to fall short in some way and are able to get up the next day and move on.
Sometimes a person gets really hurt. A hurt whcih comes from a person whom one is very close or from an organization, which is important to a person, like the Church, causes a real questioning and even a crisis.
At the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council some left the Church because they thought the Church had changed too much. In other situations, an individual Priest, Bishop or some other minister offends a person in such a way that causes them to leave the Church.
Whenever or however a person leaves the Church, it is a real loss.
Sometimes a person gets really hurt. A hurt whcih comes from a person whom one is very close or from an organization, which is important to a person, like the Church, causes a real questioning and even a crisis.
At the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council some left the Church because they thought the Church had changed too much. In other situations, an individual Priest, Bishop or some other minister offends a person in such a way that causes them to leave the Church.
Whenever or however a person leaves the Church, it is a real loss.
Getting hurt is part of life. Leaving the Church because of some hurt is a real loss both to the person and to the Church itself.
Most such hurts are caused by a single individual and they are very real whether intended or not.
The only person who will not cause hurt in a person's life is Jesus Christ, although Jesus asks for some difficult and challenging things from his followers.
When a person is hurt it would be helpful to identify, what caused the hurt and why. Then it will easier to determine if this hurt came from something fundamental and basic to the Church itself or is it due to a particular person or situation which is very disappointing but not really what the Church values or promotes.
Doing so gives a person the opportunity to examine why they believe what they believe and whether the reaction to this hurt is so great that they feel they must leave the Church community.
Most such hurts are caused by a single individual and they are very real whether intended or not.
The only person who will not cause hurt in a person's life is Jesus Christ, although Jesus asks for some difficult and challenging things from his followers.
When a person is hurt it would be helpful to identify, what caused the hurt and why. Then it will easier to determine if this hurt came from something fundamental and basic to the Church itself or is it due to a particular person or situation which is very disappointing but not really what the Church values or promotes.
Doing so gives a person the opportunity to examine why they believe what they believe and whether the reaction to this hurt is so great that they feel they must leave the Church community.
Summary:
- Hurts, disappointments and failures are inevitable in life. Those which are very significant need to be taken very seriously.
- It is important to determine or discern exactly what has caused the hurt.
- Hurts, if dealt with reasonably, without the emotional charge, which is almost always present, can be a means of great personal growth.