By Paul Schratz

IF Pope Benedict XVI were a lesser man, he might be wondering why he was treated like Job during Holy Week, as his church prepared to celebrate the joy of the resurrection.

At the same time the Roman Catholic Church is welcoming new members into its fold, around the world others are shaking the dust off their sandals and leaving the church – so scandalized are they by accounts of sexual abuse and cover-ups that are spreading across Europe.

Pontiff implicated

The church in Canada and in the U.S. has already walked this Way of the Cross; but the recent revelations in Germany and Ireland elevated the scandal to senior levels, and even threatened to implicate the pontiff himself.

These trials that the church universal has been undergoing – which were especially underscored during Easter Week –  effectively display an earthly lesson of a heavenly plan: that God allows what he allows, and he brings his gifts from it.

This Easter could have been a time of worldly optimism for the church. The Year for Priests is in full flourish, vocations are on the rise, the scandals of the past seemed to be in remediation, discussions with non–Catholics were showing progress; in short, the church had no shortage of earthly reasons to think it was in good shape.

It was not to be, and now Pope Benedict is forced to carry a cross as big as the world.

The Pope, one of the world’s keenest theologians and Holy Father of the universal church, knows that crosses are permitted for a reason – and he will faithfully carry his, as heavy as it is.

Benedict’s Gethsemane

The scandals which have broken out in Ireland and Germany are as painful to him as anything could be – his own Garden of Gethsemane. As he walks publicly through humiliation, scorn and mockery in a personal yet public Way of the Cross, he may very well fall. If he’s fortunate, he will be blessed by numerous Simons of Cyrene to help ease his burden.

But as Christ’s vicar on earth, he’s the one who is being called to the cross. The feckless public, fuelled by media thirsty to report the story as one of power and hypocrisy, will abandon him.

In the words of professional atheist Christopher Hitchens, the man “personally and professionally responsible for enabling a filthy wave of crime” must be nailed to a cross, his reputation smeared.

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If that does indeed happen, Benedict will be in glorious company. Jesus literally walked the Passion that Benedict is living in a figurative sense now. What’s more, Christ was completely stainless, in contrast to the flock Benedict leads – which certainly is guilty of sinfulness that has brought about the current state of affairs.

In the end, Christ died on the cross, rose from the dead, ascended into heaven, and redeemed mankind – from the worst sinner right through to the greatest saint.

There’s no question that sin, scandal and abuse have existed in the church since its institution 2,000 years ago. Pope John Paul II repeatedly apologized on behalf of members of the church who had sinned in its name – and that sinning continues to this day.

Pope Benedict doesn’t know what will result from this season of suffering.

It may continue through the rest of his pontificate and beyond – its casualties including not only those who suffered abuse at the hands of trusted clergy, but to an extent every member of the church today.

Sense of betrayal

Pope Benedict in his letter to the church in Ireland said he shares “in the dismay and sense of betrayal” that so many have experienced on learning of “these sinful and criminal acts, and the way the church authorities have dealt with them.”

He has called on Catholics to pray, fast, read scripture, and perform acts of mercy for the renewal of the church in Ireland. He also personally shed tears with victims of abuse, at a recent audience in the Vatican.

Certainly much will have to change in the way the church does things, starting with the attitudes that allowed abuse and cover-up to continue as long as they did.

At the same time, however, we can remain confident that God is walking alongside his church, as he does each of us, while the suffering is endured. The glory of the final resurrection of the dead, and the promise of the heavenly wedding banquet, will make up for the horrors of this world.

God chose the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, said St. Paul. He can certainly use the trials of this life to help his children glorify their Redeemer, by responding to tribulations in a Christ-like way.

Paul Schratz is editor of The B.C. Catholic.

May 2010