15 September 2022

Abusive Priests in the Christian Church

This might not be a popular stance among believers, but I think that abusive priests should not be allowed to lurk around freely inside all Christian Churches. They should not be able to emerge from the shadows and preach sermons and preside over Mass.

“What have you got against abusive priests, Bryan?” You ask, defensively. “Who cares if they abuse children? As long as this abuse occurs behind closed doors, what’s the harm? If the crimes take place only on church property, and they are performed the way that Christian missionaries would commit them, then it would be prejudiced and discriminatory to disapprove of such abuse.” 

I say: “I simply oppose everything you just said.”

Astonished at my attitude, you reply: “Anyone who is against allowing priests to continue their abuse within the Christian Church deserves to get slapped by a very soft glove.” Then you add: “It sounds like you have your priorities inverted. Nothing trumps God. And do you think that God does not love abusive priests? He created them, after all. Or do you think that God is against certain forms of behavior because they torment innocent children? If so, it sounds like you’re saying that priests do not have a right to be Christian and to commit child abuse. Are we even talking about the same God?” 

Yet before I can react, you conclude: “Listen up, infidel. If priests are truly abusing people, and you know this for a fact, and you can prove it indisputably, because everyone who enters a private meeting with one of these clergymen ends up anointed with bodily fluids, then I don’t see what more I can say. The Church is the Church.”

On this, we can agree: The Church is the Church.

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