High-ranking priest caught in cocaine-fueled gay orgy in Vatican apartment. Really. My first thought is how can he afford cocaine? My next thought is; Does he not know that as a priest he promised celibacy, (no marriage), which implies chastity, (no sex). Then I thought; where does he get the energy? The answer to that may be the cocaine.

How does all of this play into the sexual scandal of minors in the Church?  It’s an attitude.  Sad to say that the prevailing attitude of the a lot of men in the Church is, ‘do as I say not as I do’.  Wasn’t that the standard operating principle of the Pharisees?  If the moral authority that comes from God alone is not the operating principle in the Church by her own churchmen then its no wonder that there was and is an ongoing sexual abuse crises in the Church.  It also explains the attitude, “Who are they to preach to me about morality.” Remember that moral authority comes from God and not sinful man.  Doesn’t anybody take God’s word seriously any more?  When did God become subservient to man and mans desires? Isn’t anyone afraid of eternal damnation and hell?

It is reasonable to think that if people do not follow God in the small things, like chastity, they are not going to follow him in the bigger things.  The use of cocaine and a gay orgy are personal sins  by sinful men, (Never forget we are all sinful), and the participants had a choice.  The sexual abuse that was thrust upon so many children starts as a personal sin but crosses the line of “personal” when unwilling, underage kids were/are brought into the mix. Where was their choice to not be manipulated and sexually used?

It is also reasonable to think that if the commands of God are being ignored and as a result kids are being molested, (used sexually), it is perfectly reasonable to expect churchmen to lie about it and to try to cover it up.  Is God happy about that? I do not think so, yet he allows it. I don’t understand that but then again I am not God.

Except none of that is reasonable, it is irrational and demonic. And it is not ever something that in any way, shape or form pleases God. The devastating aftermath on the lives of those abused and on their families is permanent even if we allow God into the pain and brokenness to write straight with those horribly crooked lines.  Trusting others seems to be the sacrificial lamb universally effecting all of those who suffer all kinds of abuse from anyone. We trusted and look what it got us. It is hard to trust again.

Yes, the shift from the mystical life of God in the Church and our belief in all that is mystical has been replaced by a hedonism for the here and now.  Eternal life is not thought about, doing what feels good seems to be all that matters. That, of course, is at the sacrifice of the mystical Body of Christ and nary a thought is given to our eternal life yet to come. Eternal…forever…

The personal sin of the monsignor who threw the cocaine driven gay orgy can be easily forgiven if he asks God for forgiveness and changes his life. The corporate sin of the Church has crept into so many corners and crevasses of the Church, in so many dioceses and archdioceses of the Church and seems to be the mindset of so many clergy, men and women who work for the Church.   A request from God for the forgiveness for the sin of abuse will have to come from all of those corners and crevasses of the Church, from all those dioceses and archdioceses and from the many clergy, men and women who work for the Church.  (That is not to mention the lay people who refused to step in and step up.) It is that wide-spread.  It has become that invasive.  Only God can fix the mess that has become his Church.