Faithful priests who are sickened by the despicable abuse and scandals

Father Seamus Griesbach: The Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland Maine

Echo commentary originally posted on Facebook

At the end of his earthly life, Jesus’ body was the victim of great abuse and crucifixion. The Church is the body of Christ, his continued presence in the world. And when one of its members suffers abuse, no one is more a member of the Church or more at the heart of Christ’s crucified body than that victim.

On the other hand, despicable and wicked clerics who prey on the innocent and betray everything that they are called to serve remove themselves from the communion of the Church through their actions. Yes, they reside within the Body of Christ, but they are as much members of the body as a pile of cancerous tumors would be. Yes, they share the same priesthood as many good and holy priests, but they betray everything that it is and should be. They are Judas priests. Judas bishops. Their presence around the supper of the Lamb is a scandal and an outrage and an abomination.

Good bishops and priests must stop implicitly placing themselves on the side of the clerical perpetrators and enablers of abuse by apologizing for their actions. We are not on their side. We are on the side of the victim. Everyone who is a perpetrator or who covers for a perpetrator is an enemy of the Church, an enemy of Christ. Those who are with Christ do not apologize for criminals and perverts: they condemn and fight them and bring them to justice and they work to heal and restore those who have suffered from their abuse. A natural father would not apologize for the abuse that his child suffered at the hand of another, so why should a spiritual father apologize for abuse that another has perpetrated against his spiritual children? No – whatever hurts his child hurts him. An attack against a child is an attack against him. He does not apologize. He defends and attacks and heals and restores.

To you clerical abusers and despoilers who have used your position within the Church to harm others and to you liars and cowards who have covered for them: watch your back. By the grace of God, the faithful spiritual fathers of the Church, the priests and bishops who are true to Christ the High Priest, will not suffer to watch their spiritual children suffer any longer. They are coming for you. They will root you out. Every lie will be brought into the light. Every perversion will be made manifest. Every effort to protect or advance yourselves at the expense of the innocent will be revealed. Our children have suffered long enough from your crimes and ambivalence, and the fact that you wear the same roman collar that we do fills us with a righteous indignation that blazes in our hearts and drives us to cleanse the sanctuary of your filth. We will ensure that you are exiled far from the flock of Christ, that the sacred collar you have used for cover is stripped from your neck, and that you are punished to the full extent of every earthly law we can bring down upon your head before you face the wrath of God. Our love for Christ and his flock demands it. Your immorality has rendered your clerical collars millstones around your necks. The Barque of Peter has a plank, and it is time for you to walk it.

And to you victims: you are children of God and you are our children. Your presence in the Church is sacred because you share in the suffering of Christ in a way that none of us can understand. We love you and stand ready to assist and help you in any way that we can. We need your voice in the Church and your offering at Mass. We understand that many of you may have a hard time even stepping foot inside of a Church after what has happened, and we do not blame you. We promise to pray for you and to demand from the shepherds of the Church what you have longed to receive for so long: justice.

Lastly, to my brother priests: many of us who sought out the priesthood imagined lives of loving service characterized by domestic routines of sacramental, pastoral, and catechetical care. Perhaps you identified more with the "lovers" than the "fighters." Well, more is needed from you today. It is time to strap on the armor of God and put on the helmet. If your own dignity and the dignity of the priesthood does not compel you, than for love of your spiritual children. They sit in the pews and they wait - they wait for us to defend and encourage them. They wait for us to fight for them. They need us to be strong and courageous. Brothers - as Bishop Robert Barron recently said in a homily: it is time to get off the bleachers on this issue and to get onto the field.

https://www.facebook.com/BishopRobertBarron/videos/2046391902357806/  "To priests in this time of scandal"