by Dr. Pat Guinan | Homiletic & Pastoral Review
There is a human need for discipline, which is another word for asceticism.
After almost a decade (if you date the modern priest sex abuse crisis from Boston in 2002 1), the Church seems to be on the defensive. Its response has been limited to reacting to each new revelation, which appears to be unending—with most recent incidences in Ireland, 2 Belgium,3 and Austria. 4 Where to next? There are forces in our modern culture that seem bent on damaging the hierarchical Church. These include, hopefully, well-meaning groups, such as Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) and Voice of the Faithful (VOTF), who seem unable to find anything positive to say about the Church, beyond demanding the removal of bishops, and even the Pope. The issue is not helped by those who benefit financially from finding new, credible or not, and continuing old abuse cases. Legal, and other fees, have cost the Church $2,600,000,000.00 as of 2009. 5
Pope Benedict XVI has done, perhaps, more than anyone else to address and correct this matter. On his recent trip to England, 6 he repeated a litany of public apologies, as well as meeting personally with many of the victims, as he has done in Germany, and innumerable other instances over the past 5 years. Perhaps, it’s now time to change course and be more proactive.
The public action of the Church must change from one of endless apologies to one of resolute, positive action. That action must include a return to the classic asceticism that has been the hallmark of the Church for 20 centuries. We will briefly discuss: (1) What ascetical discipline is: (2) How the practice of asceticism has given the Church its acknowledged holiness over the centuries; (3) What happened over the past 50 years to vitiate Church asceticism; and, (4) the efforts at renewal that should be taken now.
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