April 11, 2010

Salvaging the Wreckage of the Catholic Church?

By Paul Shlichta
Imagine this rewrite of the scene in Robinson Crusoe where he rows back to the ship to salvage its contents. Crusoe is filling his skiff with provisions and guns and books -- when he feels a tap on his shoulder and turns to face an imposing gentleman, in a ship's officer's uniform, glaring at him. "I assume that you are under the misconception that this ship is sinking. It is not. Please put those things back where they belong and go!"It was in a similar spirit of exasperation that I googled over 47,000 hits to the phrase "can [or will] the Catholic church survive." This concern (or perhaps eager expectancy) is nothing new. The cover of the April 1 (sic) 2002 issue of Time was glaringly labeled "CAN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH SAVE ITSELF?" and included a twelve-page article that wasn't too hopeful. The majority of these obituaries concern the past decade of scandals about sexually abusive priests and the failure of their bishops to detect and defrock them. This...(Read Full Article)