{"id":9990,"date":"2018-08-20T00:00:02","date_gmt":"2018-08-20T06:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/?p=9990"},"modified":"2018-08-23T11:53:39","modified_gmt":"2018-08-23T17:53:39","slug":"wormwood-and-loyalty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/wormwood-and-loyalty\/","title":{"rendered":"Wormwood and Loyalty","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"
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From the archives: written on February 22nd, 2013….\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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A LETTER <\/strong>from a reader:<\/p>\n

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I totally agree with you \u2014 we each need a personal relationship with Jesus. I was born and raised Roman Catholic but find myself now attending the Episcopal (High Episcopal) church on Sunday and becoming involved with the life of this community. I was a member of my church council, a choir member, a CCD teacher and a full-time teacher in a Catholic school. I personally knew four of the priests credibly accused and who confessed of sexually abusing minor children… Our cardinal and bishops and other priests covered up for these men. It strains belief that Rome didn’t know what was going on and, if it truly didn’t, shame on Rome and the Pope and the curia. They are simply horrid representatives of Our Lord…. So, I should remain a loyal member of the RC church? Why? I found Jesus many years ago and our relationship has not changed \u2014 in fact it is even stronger now. The RC church is not the beginning and the end of all truth. If anything, the Orthodox church has just as much if not more credibility than Rome. The word “catholic” in the Creed is spelled with a small “c” – meaning “universal” not meaning only and forever the Church of Rome. There is only one true path to the Trinity and that is following Jesus and coming into relationship with the Trinity by first coming into friendship with Him. None of that is dependent upon the Roman church. All of that can be nourished outside of Rome. None of this is your fault and I admire your ministry but I just needed to tell you my story.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Dear reader, thank you for sharing your story with me. I rejoice that, despite the scandals you have encountered, your faith in Jesus has remained. And this doesn’t surprise me. There have been times in history when Catholics in the midst of persecution no longer had access to their parishes, the priesthood, or the Sacraments. They survived within the walls of their inner temple where the Holy Trinity resides. The lived out of faith and trust in a relationship with God because, at its core, Christianity is about the love of a Father for his children, and the children loving Him in return.<\/p>\n

Thus, it begs the question, which you have tried to answer: if one can remain a Christian as such: “Should I remain a loyal member of the Roman Catholic Church? Why?”<\/p>\n

The answer is a resounding, unhesitating “yes.” And here is why: it’s a matter of staying loyal to Jesus.<\/p>\n

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LOYALTY… TO CORRUPTION?<\/p>\n

However, I cannot expound on what I mean by staying loyal to Jesus without first addressing the “elephant in the living room.” And I am going to be absolutely frank.<\/p>\n

The Catholic Church, in many respects, has been gutted, or as Pope Benedict said shortly before he became pontiff:<\/p>\n

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\u2026a boat about to sink, a boat taking in water on every side.<\/strong> \u2014Cardinal Ratzinger, March 24, 2005, Good Friday meditation on the Third Fall of Christ<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The priesthood has never suffered such an attack on its dignity and credibility as it has in our times. I have met several priests from various regions of the United States who estimate that over 50 percent of their fellow seminarians were gay\u2014many living active homosexual lifestyles. One priest recounted how he was forced to lock his door at night. Another told me how two men burst into his room to “have their way”\u2014but turned white as ghosts as they looked upon his statue of Our Lady of Fatima. They left, and never bothered him again (to this day, he is not sure exactly “what” they saw). Another was brought before his seminary\u2019s disciplinary panel when he complained about being “hit on” by fellow seminarians. But instead of dealing with the impropriety, they asked him why he<\/em> was “homophobic.” Other priests have told me that their faithfulness to the Magisterium was the reason they almost didn\u2019t graduate and were forced to undergo “psychological evaluation.” Some of their \"\"colleagues simply didn’t survive because of their obedience to the Holy Father. [1]<\/sup><\/a>cf. Wormwood<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/span>