As Catholics, we must be willing and able to defend our faith whenever it is attacked, and do so with zeal and charity. Such as when Holy Mother Church was being bombarded on all sides by a hostile media and money hungry attorneys looking to cash in by portraying her as a worldwide network of child rapers and falsely accusing our beloved Pope of cover-up and crime.
But we must also not lose sigh of the fact that abuse, though a minority of priests, did happen, that there were real live victims who were hurt, and that there were real live abusers who went unpunished, either because no one said anything or the truth was never told.
Such was the case of Cardinal Danneels, the former leader of the Church in Belgium, when he counseled a genuine victim of sex abuse to keep silent in order that his friend, the man's uncle and a bishop, could retire without the black mark on him.
This is not Catholicism.
Our Holy Father has stressed that their is filth in the Church that needs cleaning up, and God willing, it will be. A perfect example is Cardinal Danneels. This man betrayed our faith, our Church, and a victim who had been hurt and needed help, only to be told to keep silent. A massive conspiracy isn't to blame, liberalism isn't to blame, clerical celibacy isn't to blame. The only thing to blame here is a cardinal who betrayed his office, his Church, his Pope, his flock, and most importantly, his Lord.
I will pray that Danneels repents of this sin and seeks forgiveness and performs appropriate penance. I pray that the victim will find healing in the Sacred Heart of our Lord and the Eucharist. I pray that our Holy Father is successful in dealing with this filth.
Pax Christi, and stay strong in the faith.
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