The Banality of Evil

And Ends Justifies Means Theology -They Still Don't Get It.




Larry King last night ran a special with Sinead O'Connor, a practicing Catholic who sported a large cross, and other panelists including priests discussing the "crisis" in the church resulting from the sex abuse scandals. She was most reasonable, in contrast to a puffy faced old white church-defending gentleman Donohoe who looked like Daddy Warbucks on Guiness.

"The Pope is libeled!" he declared, after three victims of molestation by the Wisconsin priest stated that the Pope should resign. And who in the world is going to make him? Na na na na na na.


It was up until only about a generation ago that Catholic priests in confession and counselling would routinely tell women that they had to forgive and stay with abusive husbands who beat them raw and bloody because of the sanctity of their marriage vows, which caused a number of them to just take their own lives. This was, of course, off its rocker and the fact that they were Priests did not make it any less really rotten bad advice.



For a very long time the forgive your abuser mentality has been preached in the name of Christ, who after all said "Forgive them Father, they know not what they do" hanging from the cross- this Forgive even when you don't feel like it, or Forgive even when it hurts, or forgive in spite of the fact that the wrong done you amounted to a stringing up leave you for dead, is a principle theological doctrine of the Church apparently- it has been used to justify perpetuation of the most hideous and heinous evil in the name of Christ. The word "abuse" trivializes what it is- it is rank EVIL from the devil himself. It is ends justifies means theology that has allowed the church to work it's magic in protected silence for millenia. The Church has been soft on crime when the Priests are the criminals-always. We know some Priests are criminals- some have actually done jail time, some more need to. Priests have been judged in part for promotion and other perks by how much money they can generate back for the Archdiocese who accounts back to the Vatican so cultivate followings, and by hook or by crook (literally) raise or take money to bring back to the Vatican Crown Jewels for their due kudos. Did you know that there is a vast Vatican Treasury? Did you know that there are some diocesan priests who are called "Secular Priests" because their vow of poverty is waived-unlike those in orders-thus they have an incentive to make money and some have died with vast estates. One Monsignor who recently died bequeathed a sizeable amount of money, it was reported, to the private catholic school that his parish runs. Did you think that personal ambition was all lost when someone puts on a Roman Collar?



Priests, people who assume positions of spiritual authority, who are supposed to be holier, who are supposed to be purer, who are supposed to actually care for the well-being of their flock have been instead allowed to essentially eat their sheep, spend years and years and years committing crimes- molesting children- emotionally manipulating and some cases emotionally torturing women, and because they are Priests they are simply told everyone has to forgive them, move on, and not hurt the institution in the name of Christ-because they believe that Christ appears as the "pinnacle and summit" most forcefully in the form of the Eucharist that only Priests can transubstantiate by virtue of their apostolic succession rules. Note- Not the LOVE of neighbor is the highest form of Jesus in the world, but food-bread, manna, Jesus in the form of a round wafer that they maintain only Priests disseminate, hence their primordial celestial sacredness that is supposed to give them license to do whatever they think they need to or feel like. Sometimes the biggest defenders of the priesthood know that they are the biggest offenders-and some of the nastiest people you never want to meet.

Whenever the specter that something really foul is at play goes on there is a clerical circling of the wagons effect and anyone who takes these allegations with the seriousness that they require are mocked, demeaned, marginalized, and persecuted in some cases from church life. Worse, some are made to feel like they deserved it, it was their fault somehow and guilt is compounded by their inability to forgive jeopardizing their very salvation. Because Priests offer "absolution" in confession, failure to forgive blocks the absolution and thus jeopardizes very salvation- and all this is in the Priest's control under Catholic Doctrine-which does not believe in the ability of any believer to obtain God's forgiveness directly from God and requires the Priestly mediator who is believed (church doctrine has it) to be standing in Christ's place on earth. Can you imagine the head games.

This has prompted parish groups of survivors to organize. Look-people have committed suicide because of the head games molesting priests have played on them. Families have been destroyed. Children's lives lost.

Remember the guy who stood on the street corner for years across from the Vice President's Mansion on Massachusetts Ave. in Washington with a sign saying something like "The Vatican harbors pedophiles?" Everyone was told he is a nut, deranged, out of his mind. A mental case. This was the official line. When in fact it was actually a true statement. He likely was told to get over it and forgive Father whoever. Everything goes officially out the window when a priest is accused- truth, honesty, fair mindedness and accountability- in the name of Jesus. Jesus, let me tell you, is barfing in Heaven.



The flock's trust in the church has been seriously undermined by the manner in which these things are dismissed flippantly and usually with a condescending -this happened years ago! what's your problem? what's the big deal now again? Again, Jesus is puking.



The big deal now again is that the Institution does not have the requisite self-cleaning mechanisms and all institutional impulses run in the opposite direction-to self-justify, hide, obfuscate and protect the "dignity" of criminal priests-by defaming and demeaning the accusers. Modern ovens have a button called the "self-cleaning" button- These are self-cleaning ovens. The church needs to upgrade it's model of reform, amend the Canon Laws appropriately, and get a "self-cleaning" button mechanism in the church. No one makes claims like this frivolously- who in their right mind would subject themselves to the hideous Zurich insurance dogs insulting and harassing them and demeaning their credibility if they were not telling the truth.



The reason that the arguments that this Pope should resign are not frivolous are, inter alia, (a) this Pope was the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congregation_for_the_Doctrine_of_the_Faith]
the body that reviewed these complaints, and hid them, obfuscated them, denied their criminality and instead persecuted people making claims and accusations for decades (b) trust would be restored if someone with clearer moral thinking on how off the rails the institutional policies have been with regard to all of this abuse on all dimensions should be dealt with (c) we are in a new age of moral responsibility and accountability and the Pope is frankly of the old school and old age - of a time where women were taking their lives because Priests told them that their salvation hinged on whether they could forgive their abusing husbands and live with it.

The sensitivity to Rank Evil is missing. The Spiritual Discernment to identify what is the devil and how he works is missing. This is why this Pope, for the good of all his church, should seriously consider whether he might not die in office, but take some position of Emeritus Advisor and pass the reigns to someone who has a record of being more "tough on crime" who insists that all accessories to crimes, all persons who knew about and facilitated by their silence the molestation of children be asked to submit their Canon Law rule 402 resignations. Accomplices and Accessories to crimes make for conspiracies. Criminal Conspiracies have no place operating in the name of Jesus anywhere in his Church.