lOne after another, the Catholic idols fall. Almost 100% of men. Not obscure or without rank, almost saints. Jean Vanier, founder of the Ark, Marcial Maciel, founder of the Legionaries of Christ, Georges Finet, co-founder of the Foyers de charité, etc. And the last, Henri Grouès, known as “Abbé Pierre”, creator of Emmaus. Each time, once the crime has been revealed, [tous sont accusés de violences sexuelles]The institution has shown itself to be reserved, devious and cunning, choosing the ineffective sanction of eliminating the bad apples. Certainly, the Catholic hierarchy has spoken on occasion, through the voice of Pope Francis, transmitted by this or that bishop. It is good, it is beneficial. Released, the word circulates.
When will the actions take place? Yes, what will happen now? Especially after the desecration of the man in the beret, already established as a living myth by Roland Barthes in his mythologies. Will those in charge finally question the ambiguity of the priesthood? About the relaxation of the last iron rule of celibacy? About the opening of the priesthood to women? Even the reinstatement of homosexual applicants who are currently excluded from seminaries! And how can we involve the laity in this revision? Why (new) authority? States General on the priesthood? A new ecumenical council?
It would be a matter of developing another rule for priests, based on a healthier anthropology and greater exegetical fidelity. For many believers, who feel it in their guts without having categories or words to conceptualize it, their Church is fed up with its priests. If paedophiles remain a minority, the others – increasingly older, lonely, overworked sometimes to the point of exhaustion, even suicide – seem as a whole, especially in the West, very cramped in their skin and in their soul. Not to mention the double life of many African abbots or the unenviable fate of hundreds of children of priests forced into hiding because they are real or false orphans.
Blocked institution
Why deny it? Why not go to the deep, devitalized and even gangrenous root, even if celibacy is not the number one cause of the vocational crisis, just as marriage is not the miracle cure? A clear diagnosis is required: in Catholicism there is a macere, if not a congenital impotence, at least a centuries-old slowness to reform. remain faithful to the Gospel; humanize oneself to become one with “Love made man” [expression désignant le Christ].
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