Many, varied and important, are the challenges that must face the Catholic Church so that they can continue to ensure its survival
over the centuries to come. For
an institution with more than two millennia behind him, who has had a great
influence in societies where it has implemented, always close to the centers of
power, enjoying many privileges and the total impunity, no need to account for
their actions, the adaptation to the current hard times will not be easy. The
monolithic structure of the organization, with strong resistance to change,
even is demand from some of his own internal organs, is an added difficulty and
makes it even more difficult to undertake this enterprise, especially in a
period when there is no progress of century to century, as in the past, but day
to day.
Regardless
of religious beliefs, more or less established, it is not difficult to admit
that an institution like the Catholic Church, if it is completely faithful to
serve its purpose, which is none other than disclose the Gospels and act in
total and absolute conformity with its principles, is both useful and
necessary. Nothing to object or
criticize about teachings that lead us to respect, help and assist our
neighbors, give greater meaning to our existence and strengthen the essential
foundations of morality, as well as help us, with its message of faith and
hope, to overcome the many obstacles encountered throughout our lives, giving
consolation, finally, to address the inevitable moment of death. The problem,
then, is not the mission but yes the peculiar method of carrying out this work,
in deviate from its true path and not knowing how to lead by example, in cling
too to earthly things, attending more to the affairs of the body than those of the soul. That is precisely its
real Achilles heel and where, necessarily, have to put the accent.
There is no doubt that some organizations promoted by the
Church, as the case of Caritas, are doing a commendable social work, and that
many people linked to it, sometimes in inhumane conditions, are giving their
lives in benefit to the most need, without request or expecting anything in
return, only driven by the high concept of charity. It is not, therefore, to
discredit the Church as a whole, or to promote a satanic conspiracy to erase it
from the face of the earth, as from some radical sectors appear to be trying,
but to expose and denounce the damage by certain people in your organization
(too many, unfortunately) that do not deserve, or are not worthy of belonging
to an institution of this nature, by reason of having committed reprehensible
acts, with the aggravation of their status as clergy, protected, sometimes, by
the passivity of those church leaders who had the obligation to avoid these,
and, more seriously, by connivance, in other.
Throughout the centuries, with great men and women who
have been an example to follow, the Church has had within it some people who
have shown just the opposite, even in its highest level. Popes as Calixtus III
and Alexander VI, of the saga of the Borgia, a family cruel and eager for
power, have not gone down in history for his piety and honesty, but by scandals
unworthy of the hierarchy they occupied. The same could be said of Pope Paul
III, who practiced nepotism and loved the arts as much as women, performing
incestuous and pimps practices, or of Paul IV, Grand Inquisitor and master of
torture, character who inspired to Hitler, for give just some examples of some
illustrious religious that have disreputed the chair of St. Peter. Some high
dignitaries, as the Cardinals Richelieu and Mendoza, along with others less
known, besides a long list of archbishops and bishops, have also been examples
of very bad and disordered lives, that not contributed to the strengthening of
an institution that declares itself founded by Christ. All this without
forgetting the many conspiracies and shady deal that took place within it, for
the sole purpose of increasing wealth and power, regardless of damage. It is
clear, therefore, that, in all periods of its long history, has always had
convulsions and shameful situations that, though, because it is a traditionally
highly protected institution, has always been careful not to reveal. In
the modern times, where everything are
much more open and the informations travel the world in seconds, is much more
difficult to remain opaque. The higher level of information, coupled with
higher education and freedom of expression, makes everything can be analyzed
and questioned. We must all accept this reality and live with it, no
exceptions.
In recent times, since 1985, which was uncovered in
the U.S. on child sexual abuse by the pastor of Louisiana, Gilbert Gauthe,
passing through Ireland with the staggering figure of over 2,000 testimonies
recounting physical abuse and sex to the child, uncovered in 2009, to the most
recent scandals brought to light for the Legionaries of Christ, order founded
in 1941 by Mexican religious Marcial Maciel, who died in 2008, which has had
several children and will be remembered by history as guilty of many sexual
abuse to child, and systematic drug use, the claims by such shameful acts,
widely disseminated by all media, have spread around the world, plunging the
Church into one of the worst crises in recent decades. The condemnation that
Pope John Paul II issued on the occasion of the scandals and debauchery
reported by the Boston Globe newspaper, in USA, and public commitment that
Benedict XVI established the April 21, 2010 in the Vatican for take action to
address the global scandal allegations, referring to sexual abuse committed by
priests, have not been followed by concrete measures strong enough to
eradicate, once and for all, this shameful, dark and humiliating problem.
The Catholic Church, with about 1.200 million baptized (about 17% of the
world population), according to data collected by the Pontifical Yearbook,
2011, can not remain any longer without undertaking a definitive plan to combat
the three problems more serious than at this time are undermining its
foundations and they are putting into question his vows of chastity, poverty
and obedience: the sexual abuse, pedophilia and financial scams. This all,
without longer delay the exercise of a thorough and quiet internal
reflection necessary to address a major renovation project, a condition sine
qua non of face and overcome the many important challenges facing and ensure
their projection into the future. Probably not will be necessary rescue the
moral ideals that the priest and religious reformer Arnold Brescia proposed in
the twelfth century, although still might have some effect in our times, but
lay the foundations essential to impart their faith above all other interests,
becaming more credible and encouraging the participation of the laity, as the
receiving end of your message, achieving, at the same time, it be understood,
accepted and respected by the clergy, combining their basic rights as
individuals to the exercise of their
pastoral functions.
The Church of the twenty-first century will have to make a great effort
to recover the connections of ecclesial institutions with secular society that they serve, currently very weak. It's
not sustainable that their meetings have been reduced progressively to events such as baptisms, communions,
weddings and funerals. It is understandable
that in Spain, to use a significant
example, over 80% of young people declaring themselves
Catholics and only 4% of them admitted to follow the doctrine of the Church. It is unacceptable that a vast majority of priests do
their work as if they were mere administrative, understanding their state as a
profession, limiting their work to celebrate the cult that is required, closing
then the churches to take refuge in the
comfort of priestly houses or residences private, without going out to testify
the Gospel and incarnate with the problems of society, offering guidance and
support to all those in need. Something must be happening for all this to
happen, and something must be done to avoid it.
Much effort should be put to face the task of overcoming the challenges
in all spheres: social, political, economic and cultural to wich is facing the
Church, and many minds have to be changed, on the basis of living in a world
that few sometimes is seems to reality, to have a real chance to get it. Such
important issues as the restoration of trust, recognizing errors and repairing,
as far as possible, the damage, establishing mechanisms for these are not
repeated; addressing the changes needed to face a new framework for relations
with civil powers, based on the progressive and irreversible loss of their
influence with they and final independence, with the consequent extinction of
their privileges; solve the funding problems with the orthodox management of its assets (very
abundant at that), and unique contributions of the faithful; address the
important problem of falling vocations, with elimination of absurd traditions,
such as celibacy, and reconsidering, in all orders, the role of women,
including access to the priesthood; change patterns of behavior of all the
ecclesiastical hierarchy, which traditionally had been governed by political
and economic criteria to move to do so exclusively by religious criteria, as it
should be by its very nature, are just some of the most important issues that
should be among their main challenges.
C. Diaz Fdez
Oviedo, march 05, 2012
Oviedo, march 05, 2012
Marginal note
Unfortunately, the persistence of many
errors, together with the lack of will to correct them, which in recent times
is marking the Catholic Church's management, is leading it, in gradual form,
but inexorably, to its disappearance, or, in the better to become, in few
years, in a residual confession. Very far from those times of splendor in which
its followers were counted by millions. If them do not take a radical turn, a
affair that seems less and less likely, the survival in the third millennium of
its history does not seem to be assured.
An alarming symptom that seems to certify the state of decomposition in which the Catholic Church may already have entered is reflected in the process of amortization of buildings traditionally reserved for religious practices. Within the European framework, although in
Spain and Belgium, countries that still retain a high percentage of the
faithful, with a link to the churches quite remarkable, the process of
abandonment of the temples dedicated to worship is not yet undergoing major
changes, this problem it is much
noticing in other countries around us. An added problem, which is also
contributing, decisively, to the closing of the churches, is the very low rate
of priestly vocations that is depopulating the seminary classrooms, which, in
turn, causes a serious problem of generational change for attend to the
multitude of parishes scattered throughout all the territories.
The German Catholic Church has already
closed 515 churches in the last decade and that of England has closed more than
20 temples a year, all within a phenomenon that is likely to worsen in the next
decades. The reuse of the temples abandoned to worship is the most varied: from
restaurants, hotels, sports venues, dicotheque, auction houses, etc., to the most
unimaginable. In short, an unstoppable process of heavenly reconversion caused
by the lack of faith that runs through the continent, of which, undoubtedly,
the Vatican is the main culprit. If the last 3 pontiffs, at first, seemed
called to put order in the Institution, the reality is that both John Paul II
and Benedict XVI have not improved things. The last one, Francisco, come from
the end of the world, as he defined himself, arrived with many expectations;
but, after some successes of principle, everything has returned to nothing. If someone, in times to come, would try to reverse the state of things, it is possible that it has already arrived too late, just as, in Spain, the apologies of the Basque bishops arrived too late asking for forgiveness for their complicities, ambiguities and omissions about the terrorism of ETA in its more than 2000 terrorist acts in which they caused more than 800 innocent victims; all before the acquiescence and, many times, under the protection of those false followers of Christ. More than 2000 years making serious mistakes, without a single act of sincere contrition to straighten the course and try to lead by example, it is clear that it has been too long.
Can serve, as an example, some illustrations of temples recently reconverted:
Can serve, as an example, some illustrations of temples recently reconverted:
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
As complementary information about this article on the Catholic Church, I recommend that you read the article: "THE HOLY ALLIANCE, THE SECRET VATICAN SERVICE", published by Emma Rodríguez on her blog, which can be accessed through the following direct link:
MY CONCLUSIONS:
Unfortunately, both history and recent events aim to move away more and more from the beliefs that the Roman Catholic Apostolic Church preaches. It is very difficult to believe in what even those who preach it do not believe. For a long time, the same life and the lived events, without having done apostasy, have been turning my beliefs and principles in religious matters to positions closer to agnosticism, assuming that the existence of God is not accessible to human understanding and, for this reason, from that condition, we can not pronounce neither in favor nor against that dogma.
Regarding the above, I think it is important to mention what the Spanish writer Fernando Sánchez Dragó says in his book entitled "Letter of Jesus to the Pope", on this subject: "I can not believe in a capricious and arbitrary God, who distributes gifts and goods as if I were throwing a handful of birdseed to a flock of goldfinches. "- I sincerely believe that it is a lapidary sentence, with which, without reservation, I absolutely agree.
Oviedo, November 2018
As complementary information about this article on the Catholic Church, I recommend that you read the article: "THE HOLY ALLIANCE, THE SECRET VATICAN SERVICE", published by Emma Rodríguez on her blog, which can be accessed through the following direct link:
MY CONCLUSIONS:
Unfortunately, both history and recent events aim to move away more and more from the beliefs that the Roman Catholic Apostolic Church preaches. It is very difficult to believe in what even those who preach it do not believe. For a long time, the same life and the lived events, without having done apostasy, have been turning my beliefs and principles in religious matters to positions closer to agnosticism, assuming that the existence of God is not accessible to human understanding and, for this reason, from that condition, we can not pronounce neither in favor nor against that dogma.
Regarding the above, I think it is important to mention what the Spanish writer Fernando Sánchez Dragó says in his book entitled "Letter of Jesus to the Pope", on this subject: "I can not believe in a capricious and arbitrary God, who distributes gifts and goods as if I were throwing a handful of birdseed to a flock of goldfinches. "- I sincerely believe that it is a lapidary sentence, with which, without reservation, I absolutely agree.
Oviedo, November 2018
C. Díaz Fdez.
