The Crisis, again.

One of the advantages of knowing a little about Church history, particularly during a time of crisis, is that it bestows on one the knowledge that there is not and never has been a time when the Church was not in some sort of crisis, though the degree does vary from time to time.

Many are saying that the latest revelations are causing them to lose faith in their bishops.  Personally, after all the prior revelations, I am surprised they still had any.  The bishops are part of the apostolic succession- the first bishops were the apostles, and look at them.  Within hours of the evening the Twelve became bishops one betrayed Him to the authorities, the rest ran off- one running away naked in their efforts to flee- and the one Jesus put in charge was swearing up and down he never met the Man.

To echo what some others are saying, I did not become Catholic for any bishop or priest.  I do not remain Catholic because of them, or even despite them.  My faith is not in them nor for them, it is in Our Lord and the Church he founded.  They cannot take that faith away from me, because it was never theirs to give in the first place.  I am not an anticlericalist- I know there are good bishops and priests out there, though they are overshadowed by the horrible failures of their peers, and I pray for them and all the Church daily, and lately, hourly.

Many are tired of sitting on the sidelines, weary of being powerless while these evils come to light.  The solutions they offer, however, are often off the mark.  Some want to withhold their donations- but if they do that to their Sunday collection the place that will be hurt first and foremost is their own parish.  Some are setting up a parallel conference to occur alongside the conference on the Family that will be happening soon- but isn't that how Call to Action and Voice of the Faithful began?

I have no easy solutions to any of this, none at all.  Leaving the Church is not an option, for where would I go? It is here that Truth and Life are to be found, and I will not surrender that.