The ultimate problem... (Main Forum)

by Brian Coyne , LINDEN, NSW, Monday, July 16, 2012, 11:53 (314 days ago) @ Nehemiah

I honestly think the ultimate problem is that most bishops feel as powerless as any of the lay people in the Church. When they attempt to speak to the people they have to speak to at the top of the hierarchical tree it is precisely the same as watching those few brave souls who attempt to have a conversation on discussion boards like True Catholic. There is simply no logic under heaven that is capable of "breaking through". The people they need to communicate to really do believe they have "all the answers" and they are simply not open to any viewpoints that conflict with their own. I only mention TC here because quite a few members of this community are familiar with that place. The reality is that there are hundreds of those sort of places on the internet. They do have appeal to a tiny sector of the population but they do not represent any future for Catholicism other than mainstream societal irrelevance. If Benedict cannot see the damage done by what was done to Bill Morris now, he is never going to see it. I honestly believe he can't see the damage done and he's not interested in seeing it. He sincerely does believe, as the successor to St Peter, he is guided by the Holy Spirit and is incapable of error. There is no need for apologies from himself or his actions in the case of Bill Morris, or for the entire clerical abuse scandal and the way it has been caused by deep systemic failings in Catholicism. When apologies are issued they are issued on behalf of others within the institution who have been responsible.

I cannot see any way this fundamental flaw that has crept into Catholicism might be addressed today. It is on the same sort of scale as trying to prevent Islamic terrorists inflicting their damage on the world. The forces in the human psyches of these people are more powerful than anything under the sun. Even Jesus warned about the tendency in a sector of human society with his missives about the pharisees. It isn't a new problem. Look at the massive cost, not to say the inconvenience to every traveller on public transport around the world, to try and prevent terrorists doing what they do. One of the worst jobs in the entire world today must be as a bishop trying to wrestle with one's conscience under such a system. Some probably do have lobotomies so they don't have to think but for the ones who know where their consciences are located it must be a living daily nightmare at the moment.

Brian Coyne
[Editor & Publisher]