Scandal in the Church

Posted on by beautybeyondbones

My heart is sickened tonight.

I’m sure that many of you have heard the news, but just yesterday The New York Times released a grotesquely revealing article about the sexual abuse allegations against Cardinal McCarrick.

I’m not going to get to specific on the allegations, but it was just a stab in the heart to hear that a man who is so high up in the Church has allegedly been living a life of recurrent abuse, some of which even towards minors. And the real twist of the knife is that, allegedly, some higher church officials were well aware of the abuse, and not only looked the other way, but elevated McCarrick in the ranks of the clergy — all the way up to Cardinal.

And believe me, the irony is not lost on me that I’m literally leaving on a Catholic pilgrimage – The El Camino de Santiago de Compestela – tomorrow. And when you’re reading this, I will be in Portugal at Fatima.

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My heart is completely broken and heavy and I just feel utterly sick to my stomach.

I want to start out by saying that there is absolutely no excuse for what McCarrick allegedly did. None. And you won’t find me trying to offer any. Not today. Not ever. Sexual abuse is inexcusable.

This is the pinnacle problem that the Catholic Church faces.

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I don’t have to tell you that the Catholic Church is the butt end of a myriad of jokes. And society at large does it no favors, and even goes the extra mile to vilify it, any chance it gets.

And it is allegations like this, that make those jokes and attacks feel warranted.

Yeah, look at this situation. The Church *deserves* to be vilified. How can Catholics, in good conscience, stay in a church that is so ripe with corruption? 

And friends, that is a really hard question to answer.

Really hard.

But after a lot of prayer, I’ve come up with two things. And I can only answer for myself – obviously, I cannot speak for everyone.

Number One: The Eucharist. I stay because I believe in the sacrifice that Jesus made on the Cross, and His true presence in the bread and wine.

Secondly, and this is the biggie: The Church is run by humans. And we are a fallen people. We do not live in Heaven. We are here on earth, where we all fall prey to the enemy. Even people in positions of power. Even priests.

We are products of The Fall, and that plays out in different ways for everyone. For me. For you. We all have our transgressions. No one is immune.

To be clear – sexual abuse, particularly against minors – is in my opinion, one of the most heinous transgressions one can make. But it is not my job to judge. Only God’s.

And God has shown us time and time and time again in the bible that fallen people can be forgiven.

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Every organization has issues. Leaders and people in positions of power are not exempt to the pitfalls of our fallen world.

Here’s the thing that really breaks my heart in all of this:

The good priests.

The men who have given their lives to serve the church: they give up their right to marry, and agree to live a life alone. They leave their families and go to an assigned parish, where they serve for a handful of years, only to be sent to a new parish to begin again: always transient and having to put down new roots every few years. They live a humble life, choosing to serve God and serve His church, taking upon them the stereotypes and judgement and jokes brought about by the few “bad apples” that have sadly spoiled the incredible and faith-filled bunch.

I have been blessed to have many wonderful priests in my life. All good, godly, brilliant  and humble men. And it just makes me so sad to see their vocation being dragged through the dung by the media, by fellow Christians, by society at large.

There is no resolution here tonight. This is something that the Church is going to have to overcome and rectify.

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There are a lot of unanswered questions, and angry people, and rightfully so.

What I do know is this:

God has been incredibly good to me. I have experienced His love and forgiveness and grace in such life changing ways that I simply have to choose to stand by my faith. I believe that the Church is truly a gift, given and instituted by Christ. A gift that I choose to receive in faith. But it is an institution that is run by broken and fallen people. People who have weaknesses and can fail to live up to the sacred responsibilities that they are privileged to have. But I also know that we all are products of the Fall, and works in progress. And as children of the Fall, we are going to have to work together to move forward after such heartbreaking events. Because our faith is worth fighting for. And I will choose God and choose my faith every time.

And after I finalize this post, I am going to add to my book of prayer intentions that I’m creating for my pilgrimage, a prayer for the Church. That She may survive this horrible situation. And that any lingering corruption be eradicated from the root. And that the victims receive the emotional and spiritual healing from the burden they have been carrying – so often in secret. I pray that we can work together to find solutions so that this never, ever, ever happens again.

See ya tomorrow morning on the Podcast!

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240 thoughts on “Scandal in the Church”

  1. Disillusionment is painful. Indeed, the church itself is holy, but many who worship or are ordained through the church are base and vulgar. It’s true in all walks of life. There are good doctors, bad doctors. Good teachers, bad teachers. Good police officers, bad police officers. My only judgment against someone who’d continue to go to the Catholic church is that I hope they aren’t leaving their kids in harm’s way, but of course, there’s only so much you can do without accusing every single priest you encounter. (I don’t have kids. I’m not familiar with the safety protocols.) There’s no group of people (all Catholics, all schoolteachers, all members of a certain race, gender, etc.) who are all good. It’s not possible. People must be seen individually and without preconceived notions of their inherent goodness or badness based on any aspect of their identity. That bad Cardinal will get what’s coming to him. His fellow inmates won’t be disposed to like someone who hurt children.

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    1. I love what you said about seeing people individually and without preconceived notions. Amen! Thanks Meg for sharing your heart on this tough issue. Hugs and love xox

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    2. I love how you said that we should see people individually and without preconceived notions. Amen to that, Meg! Hugs and love xox

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  2. I had not heard about this, but this really strikes a chord with me as this is what I wrote to my Facebook followers this morning:

    Summer Prayer Challenge- Week 5- Our Pastors/Families

    Today I specifically feel led to pray for protection for them. Each time a see a news article of a fallen pastor or a new “church scandal” my heart sinks.

    Are our first thoughts of them: “How DARE they? How could a godly leader do this?” Or do we truly feel God’s heart for them? Do these things really surprise us? Satan well knows that if he can hurt the head, he can cripple the whole church…”Strike the shepherd and the sheep will scatter.” Today, pray for your pastor and their family. Pray for God to put his hand of protection on them. That they wouldn’t feel the need to look “strong” in the face of trials or temptations but that they would be able to have trusted people around them to share with and be supported by. Ask God to give our pastors renewal each day. May they never have to feel like they are in this alone. Ask God to give them hunger and a desire to walk closely beside him, spending time in his presence each day. That they would LOVE his word and not compromise what it teaches. Pray that they would overcome evil by the power of his blood. Pray that they would be quick to repent and to ask for help, that God would keep them from pride. Pray for their families, that they would not feel the burden of always having to look put together, but that we would view them as God’s children in need of his grace as well. Pray that God would give us, the church body, MUCH grace for our leaders. May we always be a support to them, ready to protect and believe the best in them instead of always looking for the next thing to complain about. God, may we be a church that is a delight, not a burden, to lead.

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    1. Wow – so timely and so beautiful. Thank you for sharing that. Yes – renewal every day and the desire to walk closely beside Him. Amen. Hugs and love xox

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  4. Great post, my friend. I’m praying along with you. God is bigger than the sum of our sins. Jesus went to the cross for precisely this. I have faith. Love you sweet friend. Have a safe journey. 💕

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  5. But it’s not just that the institution is run by humans. It is the fact that we readily admit, at the beginning of Mass, that we are human, that we are fallen, and that we seek to do better:

    “I confess to Almighty God, and to you my brothers, that I have greatly sinned, in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done and what I have failed to do. I ask the Blessed Mary, ever virgin, all the angels and saints, and you my brothers and sisters, to pray for me to the Lord our God.

    May Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life. Amen.”

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  6. Sister, this has been going on for decades with new revelations year by year. It saddens Jesus. Jesus is weeping, I think.

    Consider this from His admonition to the church at Ephesus:

    “I know your deeds and your toil, and your patient endurance, and that you cannot tolerate those who are evil, and have tested and critically appraised those who call themselves apostles, special messengers, personally chosen representatives, of the Messiah. In fact, they are not, and have found them to be liars and impostors; and I know that you who believe are enduring patiently and are bearing up for My name’s sake, and that you have not grown weary of being faithful to the truth.”

    Liars? Imposters? Are we tolerating evil?

    I think Jesus is weeping and is saying “Woe to you, hypocrites!”

    “Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes!”

    “But woe to you, religious elites, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.”

    And He has more to say but He is weeping. Imagine the multitude of victims of this evil? Where is their justice.

    “Woe to you hypocrites! For you tithe … and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.”

    I am praying but a church that has tolerated this for so long will have to answer to our King Jesus on the day of judgement.

    Be blessed!

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  8. Praying along with you. Thanks for sharing this story despite the difficulty. If we don’t share the failures of our human inhabited church, while still sharing the Hope we have, we will fail to reach those who are far away from God because of our holier than thou reputation.

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  9. I long ago gave up on the Roman Catholic church a long time ago. This stuff has been going on for way too long and the upper echelons still haven’t figured out how to clean house from these creeps. Perhaps it is the time (well past time) to allow priests to marry and allow women to become priests.

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    2. The Protestant Church is rife with the same scandals, only they are not as well publicized. Marriage is no cure for pedophilia or sexual perversion. Married men are every bit as capable of committing heinous sex crimes as single men.

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      2. But most Protestant churches are for the most part locally run. Local church can fire a pastor for misdeeds. Less likely that pastor be moved to an unsuspecting church to continue misdeeds. I get it about married men being capable of sex crimes. What about women in ministry? Plus no altar boys in Protestant churches.

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      3. Actually it’s just as likely for a pastor to move to an unsuspecting church because the churches are independently run and there is little or no oversight or accountability.

        Some Protestant churches do have altar boys. But that really doesn’t matter, because almost all churches have children. The Protestant pastors I know of (including at least one I knew personally) who have or are now serving jail time for ongoing sexual abuse and rape of children were not hindered by a lack of altar boys.

        While women can be sexual abusers as well, the majority of sexual abuse is perpetrated by men. I know it’s very politically incorrect to point out this fact, and I know all about #notallmen, having been on the receiving end of hateful comments because I “found it necessary to mention my sexual abusers were males”.

        It is naive not to protect our children from all abusers, but it is also naive to ignore who poses the most risk.

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      4. Actually, it is not just as easy for a Protestant pastor to move to another church. There is no bishop or cardinal moving the creeps to an unsuspecting parish. Protestant churches (I hope) do due dilliganve in hiring a pastor.

        I can’t speak about mega-churches, but in my corner of the world, it would be very hard for an outed pastor to move on. We are the church and we make the decisions, not some bejeweled cardinal.

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      5. Have you been following the recent scandals in the Southern Baptist denomination? Or all the tragedies being uncovered by the #churchtoo movement?

        I grew up in Protestantism. I know how easy it is to cover things up. If Church A decides not to have charges pressed against Pastor Wolf because they don’t want the bad press, and they convince the victims’ families to remain silent, Church B has no way to find out that Pastor Wolf is a sexual predator… until after they hire him and one of his new victims courageously steps forward. That’s assuming Church B actually believes the victim in their congregation and doesn’t accuse him/her of gossip, slander, and trying to destroy a man of God.

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  10. Until the church steps up and properly deals with such pedophiles nothing will change. I personally know someone who was raped by a priest when he was a boy. Everyone, including his parents, turned a blind eye. It’s absolutely shameful.

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    1. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this. Yeah it is a really dispicable situation for sure. Hugs and love xox

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  11. Proud of you. You should, you need to share these insights. If your church is to strengthen and flourish in health, it will be because her members, like you, will stand up for righteousness and call out sin where it lies. Onward and upward. Hugs, Alan (Your brother in the Lord.)

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    1. Thank you Alan. Yeah it is a tough and frankly awful situation. If prayers are needed for the Church. Hugs and love xox

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  13. I too will stand with Holy Mother Church. You are right. It is run by humans.
    We live in a time where human sexuality is tragically twisted. Pedophile priests are a very large target, validating long-standing anti-Catholic prejudices. They aren’t the only abusers out there, by any stretch. In Virginia, A female softball coach was arrested for sexually abusing her young female players. We had two cases of men arrested for producing child pornography. The challenge to the virtuous, both lay and religious is to reclaim the Church and the culture in which it lives,

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  15. People put too much trust in the church pastors. Many people worship their pastors thinking that they can do no wrong. They have much more trust in their pastors than they do in Jesus. Jesus is the only one who has never sinned. Therefore, he should be trusted more than anything else.

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  16. Can I say that as practising Catholic I too have been horrified by what has been done by clerics here in Ireland. But, those people are not of my faith nor do they practice my beliefs. It was good to read your article and to let me know that I am not alone in seeing all mankind as weak and hoping that our Lord’s sacrifice will strengthen me and others against the “slings and arrows” that are constantly being hurled at my Church.

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  17. As for your two reasons for staying with the RCC: All churches are managed by people. If the key issue is the belief in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, there are Protestant churches which also believe in the real presence. Would you ever consider going that route?

    Having grown up in a Catholic family, what I’ve seen is that for many Catholics, it’s an identity issue rather than a theological issue which keeps them from leaving the church. To leave the RCC feels like betraying your family, your identity, and in some cases your community (ethnic, local or religious).

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    1. Thank you Nick! I haven’t considered that, but my family has deep catholic roots, so I will be staying 🙂 Hugs and love xox

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  18. Clericalism, sadly, is alive and well within the Church. One step forward, two steps back. As a Catholic deacon, I must occasionally remind myself that, while I answer to priest and bishop, I serve Christ and my parishoners. With hearts heavy, true believers must, and will, keep walking through the valley of the shadow of death. Don’t let this ruin your trip. Keep yourself open to His presence. Hugs and love– Mike

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  19. Sadly, where ever there is power over another, monsters will seek it. Does not change the pilgrimage to discover and live out of Sacred Love of God. May the Camino reveal light, and bring new mysteries of faith.

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  21. I saw you liked my blog on Christianity and Society’s Ills. This type of thing is exactly what led me to write it, though I certainly didn’t have this news in mind. I can’t argue with my atheist friends that the church is pure, because it isn’t. Because people are involved, just as you have said. Though I left the Catholic Church of my upbringing years ago, I mourn with you this news, and I wish you well on your journey. It’s your journey. Ultimately, we are all accountable only for ourselves. You are light and salt, Safe travels!

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  22. You are going into your pilgrimage with good intent and God always looks on the intent of the heart rather than the religious label we humans like to wear. The only label that is going to get us into heaven is Christian, and God will be the judge as to whether we really are a Christian or not. I know the church says only they are the conduit to heaven but the Bible doesn’t say that at all. It talks about an individuals relationship with God through Jesus and that’s the simple Gospel preached by the apostles. Yes here in Australia an Archbishop is going through a lengthy court appearance for allegedly covering up sexual abuses and one high up church official has been convicted and is trying to avoid jail on the pretext of age. You made the point well. Humans in this world of sin are fallible. The Gospel message is valid and we shouldn’t let the performance of humans detract from that message.

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  25. Thank you for this thoughtful post. Many organizations go through scandals and difficult times. Idealistic people, especially youth give up and toss the whole thing.

    Our church almost lost an entire generation of young people when a beloved leader had an affair and a child.

    This is the link to my blog post addressing the issue of failures of imperfect leaders.

    Toss the Bad, Keep the Good

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  26. Thank you for pointing 2 great insights after you prayed. Prayer is very essential. Let’s cover one another, especially the priests, consecrated persons, etc, with prayers of protection and strength to fully and continuously follow and serve our Lord God.

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  27. As an Christian, not Catholic, I do not say anything to my Catholic friends about the scandals. I remember how I felt in the 1980s when TV “evangelists” were caught in all kinds of scandals and even now how unscrupulous some of them are. I would in no way want to be identified with them. I think there is damage done in both what would fall under the umbrella of evangelical world and also in the Catholic world by various scandals. However, we cannot let sinful men keep us from God. The tricky part is being a witness for Christ even though sinful men muddy the water so to speak.

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  28. This is why our faith and trust must in our Heavenly Father and in Christ rather than in religions and spiritual authorities. We need to exert discerment in all things. A job (priests, bishops, etc.) in an organization does warrant moral soundness; living above reproach without the grace to do so is very difficult because the flesh is weak.

    With this said, we are to love God and one another, which means we show compassion toward the sinners (but not excuse or justify the sins), as Jesus has done (the adulterous woman, the thief on the cross, etc.), and pray for them so they find God and repent.. A special prayer for those who were hurt, who endured the alleged abuse. Justice will render, one way or another.

    Compassion is stronger than judgment, and love, stronger than hatred. Above all, God is sovereign… not religion. God doesn’t need the Catholic Church to love his children, to be an active presence in their lives. All He needs is someone who seeks him and if the Catholic priests would genuinely seek Him, they would experience the Bible in such a different way.

    In my earlier days, I met a Catholic priest who was a born again and spirit-filled priest (some 30 years ago when the Catholic Charismatic Movement was widespread), and what a beauty to hear him speak of Christ. He is the only Catholic priest I ever met whose behavior inspired me to seek God (not the mass, not Catholicism, but God).

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  29. Very thoughtful post, per usual. I can’t say that I feel any worse about this than I would if it had happened in another organization. I wonder if many view these acts as worse than if they happened elsewhere because of the Church’s claims about who she is. If she is the Bride of Christ, then how could this happen, right? I do firmly believe that holiness and sanctity are more easily obtained as a Catholic than another kind of Christian, but that does not mean that all Catholics seek holiness and sanctity. Many do not, in fact, as we see here.

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  30. Couple things; first, you are not on a Catholic pilgrimage. This is something between you, your mom and God…NOT the church. Is it a Roman Catholic tradition? Maybe, but it’s about God, not Catholicism.

    And the scandal is an RC problem. Sadly, it seems to put a black eye on God, but it’s our job as Christians to keep our witness pure, to make sure people understand this is just what you pointed out…

    This as a people problem, not a God problem. It just makes things tough when talking with those not of Jesus’ fold.

    Caralyn, keep your focus on WHY you’re doing this and WHO you’re doing it for. Don’t let human failings elsewhere damage what you are doing where you are.

    I’m of Jesus’ fold. I go to a Lutheran church, but my place with Christ is my identity. So it should be with you; Catholicism is your path, but Jesus is your only identity.

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  31. We Protestants are not untouched by scandals (sin, really) of this nature. The Southern Baptist Convention is being rocked by multiple cases of abuse and the covering up of that abuse. While that’s not my denomination, I am so angry at and saddened by what’s come out. I feel the same about the problems in the Catholic church.

    More and more I believe that God is revealing these things and giving us no room to wiggle. It’s time to repent and clean house.

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  32. That the Church has survived two thousand years, sometimes under the temporal leadership of seemingly unworthy people, is testament to its being founded and protected by Christ.

    Prayers for you on your pilgrimage.

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  33. Your blog has been of interest to me for about a year, and an article on the scandal of the Church is the reason why. Fourteen years ago, I chose to go through the RCIA and become a member of the Roman Catholic Church. This was not the start of my spiritual pilgrimage, rather, I had been involved in the Protestant church. These are the reasons that I chose to be RC: the church calendar, the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, which incidentally based on a Greek word for Thanksgiving ,and the liturgy I find it moving to know that a billion plus people are reading, and praying the same at one time. This number increases for their are other denominations that use the same liturgy. Thanks for your post

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  35. Great post. If we can just really hold on to the idea that we are the church, us little people with testimonies, it changes the narrative. The scandal in “the church” breaks my heart, but we are the church and our job is to go forth and love people and share the good news. Jesus encountered the scandal of the church when He walked the Earth, too. He had some choice words to say about it all, but He went around bringing hope to people anyway, healing the sick, spreading the good news.

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  36. I’m so sorry about this, Caralyn. I have had horrible things happen by the hand of “godly” men and have seen horrific things happen to truly Godly men, things no one ever deserves.
    There is much that is biblically off about practices of the Catholic church, things that are mere traditions of man and not based in scripture at all; but, that is another topic for another day. All that matters is our saving faith in Jesus Christ. I pray that as you seek Jesus, He would be found by you, and that He would lead you and your mama further to the truth. May He comfort and grant peace to you and your heart tonight.
    Love you, sister.
    -Annalee

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  39. Unfortunately, the sexual abuse of minors in church leadership is not reserved only for the upper echelons of the Catholic Church, Protestant churches have had the same issues and coverups. Even high government officials have been involved in this behavior, which was an open secret that people did not want to tackle due to the high position of the individuals. God is no longer allowing this sin to continue and is bringing it out into the open and before the public. This could lead to massive changes, repentance and a move of God. God is no longer tolerating cover ups and the damage done to young ones in any setting. It is being exposed so it can be dealt with, so that a succession of vulnerable victims will stop. Painful as it is, what has gone on for years is being dealt with. I pray that God would expose and remove all sexual predators from the church–Catholic and Protestant.

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  44. Don’t get too down about this. Even Peter denied Jesus three times, and he was the first Pope. Paul put Christians to death. But it’s a horrible thing to do to another human. It often ruins their lives. So efforts have to be made diligently to clean this up. Jesus said. “If anyone causes one of these little ones–those who believe in me–to stumble, it would be better for them if a large millstone were hung around their neck and they were thrown into the sea.” Mark 9:42

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  45. I cannot agree with you more and I cannot thank you enough for this post! God bless the humble and life-giving priests who sacrifice for us, and prayers for our beautiful Catholic church :).

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  46. Caralyn, the Joy of the Lord is your Strength, and will continue to be your Strength as you keep your focus on Jesus Christ. Holy Spirit within you, will guide your mind and spirit, as He is always pointing and drawing people to Jesus Christ, and giving Christ the Glory.

    Praying you and your Mom are kept safe, as the Covering of the Blood of our Lord Jesus protects you, and also as His Pure, Holy, Sacrificed Blood flows through the veins of the bodies of your Mom and you, keeping you healthy and strong for your journey.

    Also praying Caralyn, for the Spirit of Jesus, the Spirit of the Resurrection, to be speaking encouragement from Scripture into the spirits and minds of you and your Mom daily, on each part of your walk.
    Praying and believing Holy Spirit to protect your mind from negativity that will attempt to invade and cause oppression and depression, particularly following the terrible news you recently heard and shared here.

    Holy Spirit has called and led you along with your Mom, on this journey and mission in your lives, at this specific time for a purpose. His purpose is for each of you to be drawn closer to Jesus Christ our Saviour, to experience more of the Power and Presence of Holy Spirit within you, manifesting Himself in boldness, along with the Fruit of the Spirit being visibly and vocally evident in your every action and word, all to the Glory of our Heavenly Father.

    Holy Spirit is going to guide you Caralyn, in powerful Prayers for others, like you have never experienced, and you will see and hear of God answering the prayers, as others will also see these answers, and hear of them, Glorifying God, giving Honour to Jesus Christ, blessing others, and drawing still others to a closer relationship with our Lord Jesus.

    Some who are searching, will see the Radiance of God on your face Caralyn, and you will have opportunities to share a deep experience with Jesus.

    The Living Word of God, Jesus the Christ our Messiah, will be evident, and will be noticed by many, as the Spirit of God will powerfully, yet gently, and in a positive manner, as you are able to pray and share the Written Word Of God which Holy Spirit inspired each author to write.

    Colossians 1:9-12
    9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives,
    10 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,
    11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience,
    12 and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.

    God’s Abundant Blessings and Grace on you and your Mom,
    Luv,
    😀❤️🌹😘

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  48. I have been struggling with this SO much. Thank you for writing this. I will be reading and re-reading this over and over to gather the inspiration and courage to stay where I know I belong. God bless you.

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  50. Pope Paul VI warned us.
    He said,”The smoke of Satan has entered the church”.
    That was fifty years ago.
    The reality of God gets lost in all this filth – all of it is Satan’s work.
    Hold to what you know and never doubt.

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