The tribulations of the Church

Judas Iscariot, one of the 12 chosen by Christ himself, was to be his betrayer. "Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss," he had asked him before he was seized and arrested by armed soldiers in the Garden of Gethsemane. History would later show that Judas would not be a lone betrayer of Christ from among those who would choose as their vocation that of leading others in holiness.

As the Church grew in numbers and became powerful and dominant, it attracted within its ranks all types of personalities with motivations as varied as humanity can attest. Following the path of Christ in holiness through prayer, mortification, justice, love of others, human respect, confidence in God remained a primary motivation for the very vast majority, but others were attracted by more base mundane intentions.

Abuses of all kinds were periodically to assail the Church throughout its long history. Not even the Papacy was to be excluded as evident, for example, in the history of the Borgias, more particular that of Rodrigo Borgia as Pope Alexander VI in the late 15th century, a thoroughly debased and corrupt man who "no one ever claimed that he believed in the gospels".

"The fool says in his heart: 'There is no God'. Such are corrupt; they do abominable deeds; there is not one who does good" (Psalms 14:1). Such is the picture we build up in our minds as we are overwhelmed on a daily basis by a mountain of negative reports on the Church. What has happened? Hundreds of cases of alleged clerical sexual abuse in the Church's European centres shook the allegiance of millions and forced their pastors to make unprecedented admissions of guilt and mortification. So far, almost 700 new cases have come to light in Europe.

The numbers involved in Europe are much smaller than the US, where a 2004 report found evidence in support of almost 7,000 allegations of clerical sexual abuse. The crisis soon spread from the US to Canada, Australia and, now, to Europe - to its very Catholic heartlands in Ireland, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Austria, and, recently, to the German-speaking areas in Europe, more specifically in Munich, the capital of Bavaria, where the then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was Archbishop. Thus, the charges are now nearing the head of the Church himself and accusing fingers are being pointed in that direction.

The main accusation is that the Church knew about these abuses but kept them under a veil of silence to protect itself and, thereby, allowed the perpetrators to continue with their evil intentions. Critics claim that as Cardinal Ratzinger and also head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith he had obstructed justice. A letter the cardinal circulated to bishops in 2001 reminded them that internal Church inquiries into certain offences were covered by Papal secrecy, for which the penalty is excommunication.

Mgr Charles Scicluna, the promoter of justice in that Congregation, strongly defended the Pope during the time that he, as cardinal, headed the Congregation. "Only with the 2001 motu proprio did the crime of paedophilia again become our exclusive remit. From that moment, Cardinal Ratzinger displayed great wisdom and firmness in handling these cases, also demonstrating great courage in facing some of the most difficult and thorny cases, sine acceptione personarum. Therefore, to accuse the current Pontiff of a cover-up is, I repeat, false and calumnious," he said.

As a supreme Christian institution, following the example of Christ himself especially on the Cross, the Church also believes and practises the doctrines of justification and salvation, more specially, that the ministry of reconciliation is applicable to all irrespective of one's character, past and transgressions.

In this overall gloomy picture, one has to keep a proper perspective of things.

Are we to forget the immense good that has come out (and still comes out) of the Church because of these relatively few bad apples in its core? Are we to forget its great saints and renowned philosophers, its edifying martyrs and its endless list of holy and exemplary people?

Are we to forget those many in the Church who work silently and selflessly for the welfare of others in missions, charitable institutions, hospitals, schools, old peoples' homes, the disabled, the marginalised and disadvantaged? Does not the immense good that has come out of the Church overshadow in an unmistakable manner the evilness of the few in its midst?

The story of Judas in the early history of the mission of the Church was to be a harbinger of what was to follow. Judas was one of the chosen twelve but he had evil aims in mind. In the end, he proved to be a traitor to the great cause and the master himself and the master knew all this and allowed it to happen. "Still accursed be that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It were better for him had he never been born" (Mark 14:21).