Regarding this article.
Why does it take so long and have so much effort put in to help the victims? Even after a hand-delivered letter, it's still an issue? Only now are they finally sending an investigator in to look at Barros, who did not directly commit the crimes but aided & abetted.
My confusion rests in the fact that the Pope seems to not know anything about this instance despite a hand-delivered letter. Do we know if he actually read it? No. He likely receives millions of pieces of communication daily. It's disheartening, though, that his stance was to say no one had come forward when in fact they had. Why not reserve comment until he had a chance to refresh his memory. No one is perfect, but I'm disappointed by this.
It adds to my growing disappointment with the Catholic church. Locally, our bishop and committee have had 6 months to consider feedback and plan to close churches. An announcement was promised for January. We're still waiting, and have no definite date when an announcement will be made.
A specific person in the church hierarchy does not like my church/community. One might describe it as "having a hate on" for my church. I'm afraid that may be clouding the judgement of those making the decision. Despite all of the evidence supporting the fact that we can and should remain open. I've debated writing a letter to the bishop, but am not sure how much of a difference I could make given that some of my information is technically hearsay, though common knowledge.
What I do know is that if it is decided my church will close, then I am not sure what I will choose to do. A global community where we can't recover from scandal, and a local community forced to go elsewhere because someone has a vendetta. I'm not interested in joining a different community. The reason I have stayed with this one for over 25 years is because I like it. I like the building, I like the comfort that comes with familiarity. I'm not interested in making a new emotional investment in another community based on an arbitrary decision to close a building because someone has a stick up his butt. I can talk to Jesus and God from anywhere. I go to this church for more than just that conversation: I go to spend time with my mother, to see friends, to be a lector, and to have that dedicated time to focus on my faith in an environment of comfort. So what if I want it to be in that building and not another? That's my [possibly quite narrow-minded] choice.
The argument, of course, is that church is not a building. No, it's not. But it does house a community of people who actively choose to come from all over the city to this specific church. We're not all going to move together and keep our traditions intact. We're the ones forced to adjust to a new place and adapt to their existing ways. It won't be without struggle, to say the least.
I don't want my church to close, and based on the info we presented to the bishop, we have a very convincing case to stay open. If the decision is to close it anyway, then I won't have much faith left in the leadership. If I don't have faith in the leadership, then going to a different building doesn't solve anything. In a time where attendance is dwindling rapidly, they can't really afford to make a decision like this and piss people off to the point of quitting. And that seems to be the direction I'm heading.
1 comment:
When I was younger, I spent many hours each week in church, buying into the faith argument for teaching Sunday school, playing the piano for the early service, singing in the choir at the second service, being on many different committees so necessary to keep a church viable. Between church and school, I had no personal life and it began to chafe.
When I left for college, my absence was lamented, and I was actually asked to find a ride back home each week so I could continue my giving to the church. I had no transportation and no time to fulfill that ask, so I declined providing my services -- and noticed quite a cooling off in people's relationships with me. No longer was I a part of the inner circle and it was a strange feeling.
What I learned the hard way is that a church is just another business in disguise. It depends on unpaid labor to be successful and on people's generosity in the giving of money to keep the lights on. It is challenging to go from believing and giving to feeling used and abused, but when I had my ah-ha moment, I quit feeling guilty and went on with my life.
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