Blaming the Church's doctrine and the theology of the Mass for abuse is wide of the mark writes Christina Gordon
Prof. James Mackey of Trinity College Dublin recently made a bewildering connection between a culture of abuse in the Catholic Church in Ireland and the Last Judgement as recounted in the Gospel of Matthew (Chapter 25).
Prof. Mackey, who is Honorary Professor in the school of religions and theology at Trinity, insisted that the Judgment story ''supports a picture of the judgmental and punitive God we should imitate'' where ''poor unshriven sinners are condemned to eternal torture by fire, a fate far worse than even the cruelest death; a story that tempts church persons to believe that punitive measures should be applied in this life, if only to lessen those that could be expected after death. Punishment again is the primary instrument of love for those that would imitate the God of eternal hellfire who - true to form - had Jesus put to death to satisfy divine justice''.
Jesus, in the Judgment story, as Son of Man, as Jesus of history, as returning King, as future Judge, is identifying himself with all those who suffer in the world. He is the prisoner, the accused etc. and the 'abused', to put the story into the context of today, but he is also the future judge. In his Passion, Jesus was 'stripped', 'imprisoned' and 'abused'.
(Pictured: Michaelangelo's The Last Judgement)
He suffered on the Cross because of the sin of the world, which is inevitable since God grants all men free will, which can be misused (sin) or used for the love of neighbour and God.
The Jews, whom Jesus was addressing here, refused to acknowledge that good and evil co-existed in their hearts and institutions and Jesus was pointing out that they were deciding, by their own love of their neighbour or their selfishness, whether they would be on the 'right' or the 'left' of the 'King' on the Last Day.
Belittle
This teaching is very relevant today. To say that it doesn't matter whether we live good or bad lives is to belittle the words of Jesus, deny that good and evil exist in today's world and undermines our God-given free will, as if it were a game to be played out in Heaven on Judgment Day. How we chose to live our lives (use our free will) and how we treat these 'little ones' (Matthew 25:45) determines eternal life or eternal punishment.
Of course it matters whether we reject God through sin, or receive Him into our hearts through love of our neighbour, if our Catholic faith means anything to us. God is not portrayed in Church doctrine as a punishing God, as Prof. Mackey claims; we condemn ourselves through our sin.
Sacrifice
In his piece in The Irish Times (May 12), Prof. Mackey also blames the abuse scandal on ''Church belief and practice'' that originates in the 3rd Century and to a ''theology of Mass and of Calvary then developing, in which God's love for sinners took the form of a demand for a cultic sacrifice offered by a priest and taking the form of the most humiliating and cruel torture and death of the man, Jesus - a human sacrifice therefore - in order to satisfy God's justice for all our sins.''
The Cross was viewed as a scandal in the time of Our Lord but Christians view it together with the future glory that it foreshadows. To take the theology of the Cross while not mentioning the theology of the Resurrection is to distort the full Truth. Jesus did not die on the Cross to eradicate suffering but to show his solidarity with those who suffer, to demonstrate that sin causes suffering and that those who live the Beatitudes, even though they may suffer in this life, will receive eternal reward; the hope which the Resurrection points to.
Free will
God sent His Son, out of love, to die for sinners and through his teaching to point them back to God. Jesus, as a human, had free will and could have denied God by not standing up for the 'Truth' of who He was. He could have avoided the humiliation of the Cross. The fact is, in today's Church, that those who refused to stand up for the 'Truth' of Who Jesus is and refused to protect 'these little ones' avoided the Cross and humiliation in the eyes of man in order to safeguard their reputations and the institution of the Church.
However, the 'abused' (Jesus) revealed the 'truth' thereby giving the abusers and those who covered it up a chance through penance and reconciliation to claim eternal life, which is intended for all, rather than eternal punishment.
In his sincere statement of May 17, Cardinal Brady states for all to see the change of heart that the institution of the Church is presently experiencing. He promises ''with humility, sincere repentance and careful listening'' to attend to the damage that the sin within the Church has caused. This is the type of response that Jesus hoped for in Matthew 25:31-46 and proof that God touches all hearts, but most of all the hearts of sinners, since he sent His son to die for them that they may receive eternal reward. Humility, selflessness, repentance and reconciliation are the primary instruments of love here and not 'punishment' and is the true theology of the Cross.
How could Prof. Mackey extract the theology that Church teaching, through the theology of the Mass and of Calvary, turns the love of God and His mercy for sinners into a punishing God who ''demands [a] cultic sacrifice offered by a priestin order to satisfy God's justice for all our sins''. God does not have to be 'satisfied' as Prof. Mackey claims. This statement insults the essence of who God is.
Consistent
The Fathers of the Church were consistent in their teaching on the theology of the Mass and of Calvary. They based their teaching on:
1. The prophesy of Malachi 1:11-13 ''For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name is great among the nations, and in every place incense is offered to my name, and a pure offering; for my name is great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts''; and
2. On the last Supper: ''then he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, 'This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.' And he did the same with the cup after supper saying, 'This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood'.'' (Luke 22:19-21).
The statement that Matthew 25:31-46 and the teaching developing in the third century contributed to ''the systemic nature of child abuse in the Church'' is incomprehensible. In my opinion, such abuse was the result of a man-made authoritarian Church that created a God in its own image and spent decades convincing the faithful that God was a 'punishing' God and neglected to take account of His mercy and love, which is the main theme of the Bible.
When Archbishop Diarmuid Martin (pictured) referred to ''Irish devotional practice in general'' and a ''punitive, judgemental God'' in his address, this is what I believe he was referring to. I see no need to change Church teaching, as Prof. Mackey suggests, as it concurs with the message of Jesus Christ. The preaching and practice of Catholic teaching falls short, for all of us, of the message of the Gospel. The doctrines of the Church are not favourable to abuse as Prof. Mackey claims: the weakness within human nature is.
On his way to visit Portugal this month the Pope said that ''today we see in a truly terrifying way that the greatest persecution of the Church does not come from outside enemies but is born of sin within the Church''.
This is an admission of the weakness of humanity, whether you are Pope, bishop, priest, religious, or layperson, but does not leave the blame on the teaching of Jesus himself.
I admit that I am not a theologian and do not have a thorough knowledge of the writings of the Fathers of the Church, some of whom are saints, but I detect inconsistencies and confusion in Prof. Mackey's thinking. He says, on the one hand that ''the God Jesus preached as Our Father is one who never returns evil for evil, here or hereafter'' yet quotes Jesus' words from scripture as tempting ''Church persons that punitive measures should be applied in this life, if only to lessen those that could be expected after death.''
Exaggerated
I understand that the only tempter in the Bible and in life is Satan himself. I am sure such an exaggerated claim would command a smack on the hand by St Paul.
Of course Prof. Mackey does not conclude without having a swipe at the papacy. He says, referring to the papacy, that ''power of its nature is inclined to corrupt, absolute power corrupts absolutely.''
It is my opinion that the claim to 'absolute knowledge' when it comes to the Paschal Mystery leads to the corruption of the gospel message, so let us now, more than ever, rely on Church teaching worked out in those early days, before the New Testament was completed, by the Fathers of the Church who spoke with one voice through the action of the Holy Spirit and who were either taught directly by the apostles in the early days or continued what was taught, thereby establishing the Truth of the Gospel message.
Responsibility
I will leave the final words to Archbishop Diarmuid Martin from his speech referred to above:
''I sometimes worry when I hear those with institutional responsibility stress the role of the institution and others then in reaction saying that 'we are the Church'. Perhaps on both sides there may be an underlying feeling that 'I am the Church', that the Church must be modelled on my way of thinking or on my position. Renewal is never our own creation. Renewal will only come through returning to the Church which we have received from the Lord.''
Down through the ages sin and scandals have come from within the Catholic Church, but it always held on tenaciously to the teaching handed down to them from the early centuries.
Let it now more than ever give no heed to opportunists and confusing voices who individually proclaim 'I am the Church'.
