Our hearts are troubled, our faith is challenged

By Fr. Shay Cullen
PREDA F0undation

Readers frequently share their comments and opinions, their problems and troubles about many things including the challenge to their faith. Before the resignation of Pope Benedict and the election of Pope Francis I received the letter below.

Dear Fr. Shay,

I would really appreciate your help. At the moment I feel very confused. For a while I have been disheartened by Rome. I can’t believe the way they handled the cases of child abuse, it seems to go against everything I believe and their reaction was hard to grasp and still is. I understand the heart of our faith is to love one another, to forgive and be non-judgmental, so I try, but it’s their attitude to the victims that seems so wrong.

Recently a priest (name omitted) has voiced opinions on subjects like priests been able to marry, women priests and birth control, things we all discuss and have views on and now the (former) Pope is trying to silence him and others with such views, but I agree with some of his views, does this mean I don’t belong in the Catholic Church?

My three children won’t have anything to do with the church, they say it’s hypocritical and although it deeply saddens me, I can’t argue with them. I tell them to remember the love God has for them and he will always be there for them no matter what and I pray……… it would help me so much if you could give me some direction, I feel so lost.

Thanking you for your kindness,

Ann

Here are edited extracts of my reply:

Dear Ann,

We all need peace of mind and heart these days with all the betrayals we, the “faithful”, have suffered by those who have made their careers as managers of church affairs. So the first thing we have to live with is that reality, that the Gospel, Good News of Jesus has over the centuries been hijacked, or “gospel-jacked” and taken out of its original simplicity and beauty and “dogmatized”, to the point of being distorted beyond recognition.

So an ordinary person seeking a purpose and meaning and a direction in life can’t understand what is going on! So our faith is belief in and relationship with Jesus of Nazareth, his actions, words, teaching, and sacrifice of himself for those teachings. We have to read the gospels from cover to cover again and again and anchor our faith in Him and His life and wisdom and guide our lives along this path of simplicity…..

Our children are right, there is much hypocrisy in the church management, but we believe in the founder, the man from Nazareth and if we can direct their interest and commitment to goodness to Him, they could have a happier, fulfilled life. We can have the same attitude that Jesus had to the church authorities of his day, be critical, challenging and in disagreement, calling them hypocrites, whited sepulchers and so on. Even if we challenge the institutional Church, we follow our conscience and are doing what is right and good for the whole community, we don’t become heretics, we will still be true friends of Jesus of Nazareth, that is what faith is.

We have to challenge any institution that covers up child abuse and other crimes by any of its members. Jesus was and is tough on child abusers… “…tie a millstone around their necks and throw them in to the sea”, (Luke 17. 1-3) no words of instant forgiveness for child abusers, but first, justice, repentance and accepting penance(behind bars), then the victims can forgive more easily).

Justice was the center of his teaching , if justice is lacking there cannot be any love, respect, dignity, honesty, and truth. He died for that teaching. He came to turn the world and the religion of his day upside down and he was given the death penalty for his “crime” of challenging the leaders of the church of his day. He was to be silenced permanently, but everything he said and did came alive again and so did he in our minds, hearts and lives.

In his day, Jesus confronted them and called for total reform. They then killed him for that. The church managers have made grave mistakes throughout history, the inquisition, the Crusades, holy wars, etc. and now celibacy, child protection, the role of women, etc. are the challenges that have to be met.

Ann, the best thing to do is seek for yourself the meaning of life as lived by Jesus and don’t think too much about the goings on with church hierarchy and the church “authorities”. Our faith is in Jesus and his message, not in a religious institution or structure.

Email: shaycullen@preda.org (Fr. Shay’s columns are published in The Manila Times, in publications in Ireland, the UK, Hong Kong, and on-line.)

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