Band of toughs

The editorials are calling for the resignation of the Vicar of Jesus Christ. This call will surely fall on deaf ears. The allegations are serious and ought to be considered carefully. Ultimately the people in the pews voting with their feet will make the decision.

The Book of Ezekiel in chapters 8-11 provides the prophetic rationalization for the destruction of the Temple in 587 BCE. It also provides an appropriate frame of reference for the contemporary abuses committed by the priests and the cover-up by the religious establishment. The sexual abuses committed by the priests are a sacrilege. These priests are worse than the “band of toughs” described in Ezekiel 8. The sacred is being contaminated. We lose sight of the fact that the priests are oppressing the weak and innocent and leading the children astray. They are oppressing the people who are in need of the special protection of the gospel preached by their oppressors.

The papal response has been to advocate forgiveness without repentance. Dietrich Bonhoeffer denounced the church for preaching what he called “cheap grace.” It would be more accurate to call this response the abominations that will destroy the church and the pretense that the church is the sole arbiter of the sacred. May God have mercy on them.