Tearing Down Catholic Leaders

About this sermon

Music written and generously provided by Paul Jernberg. Find out more about his work as a composer here: http://pauljernberg.com Spanish translations by Vélez Translations, http://www.veleztranslations.com When this most recent round of scandal in the Catholic Church erupted over the past few years, I, like many of you, felt extremely betrayed and not just by the revelations, but also by the ongoing refusal to take necessary steps to remedy the problems that exist. And because of that, I sympathize with the climate of outrage that exists out there. If I followed my red-headed instincts, I’d be right out there alongside so many, pitchfork in hand, indiscriminately demanding that heads roll. But Catholics and Christians are called to be better than the mob. We’re called to be patient and discerning and not easily fall prey to simplistic explanations that restore our sense of control or understanding when we haven’t earned it. One such idea that I think has been really influential throughout this crisis is the idea that the Church has been infiltrated at every level by subversive adversaries and that we must root out that influence to save the Church. Now, I’m not one to say that those ideas are completely without merit as there have been well documented attempts and conspiracies to infiltrate the Catholic Church. But the response to that has taken on a bit of a hysterical fever pitch in recent years where many of us are jumping to unwarranted conclusions. One really egregious example that I keep seeing on social media is this phenomenon where if self appointed inquisitors can detect anything that a Catholic leader or thinker says that is out of alignment with their understanding, then they immediately jump to this conclusion that they are one of the infiltrators. Read the full transcript at www.brianholdsworth.ca

Topics

• Leadership