The Root Cause of Today’s Catholic Crisis

By Judie Brown

One need not look farther than today’s headlines to realize that many in the Catholic hierarchy have run amuck!

We all know about the disgusting behavior of Cardinal Theodore McCarrick. The fact that his escapades span years is mind-boggling. We may never know how many victims fell prey to this behavior, but God knows. And, sadly, so does the devil, and you can believe that he is reveling in this scandal, for he knows that the best way to destroy the Church is from within.

Documents suggest that McCarrick’s practices were an “open secret” that were widely known or guessed at by far too many among his peers. This is yet another scandal!

To make matters worse, McCarrick is not the only one creating scandal. We know that Atlanta, Georgia’s archbishop, Wilton Gregory, has appointed a pro-homosexual priest, Monsignor Henry Gracz, pastor of The Catholic Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Atlanta, to be a spiritual guide to sex abuse victims. That is an oxymoron if we ever heard one!

We also know that Cardinal Donald Wuerl has had his share of scandals dating all the way back to his days in Pittsburgh. Wuerl says he is not guilty of covering up sexual abuse among his priests during his Pittsburgh days, but I don’t buy it!

Frankly these bishops have run in a pack for a very long time. I like to call it the Old-Boys Network. Historically the hierarchy has been riddled with examples of treachery dating all the way back to the 1950s, if not farther. This fact is detailed in the John Jay Report commissioned by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, though nothing was really ever done about it.

Add to all this the condition of seminaries that author Michael Rose detailed in his seminal book Goodbye, Good Men. Rose wrote about rampant homosexuality and stated that some seminaries had monikers like the “pink palace” and not a finger was lifted to clean up these places.

Something is terribly wrong!

The Real Presence

In my opinion, these horrific wrongs began with disregard for Christ in the Eucharist. All three of the Catholic prelates mentioned here have refused to obey Catholic Church law regarding protection of the sacrament of Holy Eucharist from scandal. The law in question, Canon 915, states in part that those who are “obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to Holy Communion.”

More than 13 years ago American Life League called on every American Catholic bishop to obey Canon 915 as it applies to Catholic-in-name-only politicians who support the aborting of preborn babies. Our campaign spanned several years, and while many bishops did begin to defend Christ from sacrilege, these three were among the many who did not.

And oh, what excuses they gave!

McCarrick said publicly: “As a priest and bishop, I do not favor a confrontation at the altar rail with the sacred body of the Lord Jesus in my hand.” He also said that denying Holy Eucharist to a pro-abortion public figure made him “uncomfortable.”

Archbishop Wilton Gregory said: “In the nature of the Church, the imposition of sanctions is always the final response, not the first response, nor the second, nor maybe even the 10^th.”

Donald Cardinal Wuerl said: “Given the long-standing practice of not making a public judgment about the state of the soul of those who present themselves for Holy Communion, it does not seem that it is sufficiently clear that in the matter of voting for legislation that supports abortion such a judgment necessarily follows.”

In other words, none of these three ordained priests of the Catholic Church will protect and defend the real presence of Christ from sacrilege! Nor will they defend and protect the real presence of the innocent preborn by calling pro-abortion Catholics to account for their dubious claim that they can be both Catholic and pro-abortion.

All three excuse the worst possible crimes against God while spitting in the face of Christ!

So, as you wonder about their current troubles, just think about what they have failed to do for so many years.

Ask yourself these simple questions: If a Catholic priest refuses to protect Christ from sacrilege, what else might he do? If such men are not working to save the souls of their flock—including those who publicly support killing preborn babies—why is anything else they pursue shocking? And if they refuse to deny Communion to abortion advocates, what devils are hiding in their closets? Might they be thinking, “Why should I refuse these people Communion for merely supporting abortion? I’ve done far worse.”

The root cause of today’s Catholic crisis is clear: If an ordained Catholic priest can deny Christ, he can do nearly anything the devil tempts him to do.

NOTE: Our video The Presence Is Real makes our case!

Please pray for our bishops. We have adapted this prayer to include all bishops:

Heavenly Father,
in these trying times
when the spirit of the age
threatens Christian values,
give our bishops holiness of life
and wisdom to direct and guide their flock
So that we may grow in your love.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.

image: Archdiocese of Boston via Flickr