“Catholic-baiting is the anti-Semitism of the liberals,” said American Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and influential political thinker Peter Viereck. Never perhaps have these words rung more true than during the last few weeks, when the media globally unleashed unprecedented ferocious attacks on the Catholic Church and especially on the Pope himself. The Church is being portrayed as a world-wide criminal organisation intent on hiding the truth about the perversions of some of her members, especially the clergy. The attacks continue unabated and are likely to do so for a very long time. The agenda, both secularist and financial, behind them demands that this should be so.

The abuse of minors is an abominable crime. When it is carried out by priests it becomes even more abhorrent because of the harm and scandal that it inflicts on the victims, whose lives will be tarnished by the evil committed by those who speak and act in the name of Christ. Such crimes have to be condemned without reservations.

Now, however, an important question needs to be asked. Why is the Catholic Church being singled out from among other institutions and organisations? Angela Merkel, German Chancellor, made it clear in a public speech (largely unreported by the press) that it was not right to single out the Catholic Church for the abuse of minors because it is widespread in society. Indeed, it is a global plague, and millions of minors are sexually abused all over the world. Child pornography is rampant and there is a million-dollar tourist industry where people from the developed world go to Third World countries to engage in their perversions with the children of the poor there. Yet, little outrage is expressed and this is all accepted as being almost normal in modern society.

It should be clear that even one case of child abuse by a priest is cause for sorrow and shame for the Church. This has been repeatedly said by the Pope himself and by many cardinals and bishops all over the world. Many errors were committed in handling these cases and the Church was often slow to recognise the gravity of the various situations it faced. However, in the words of George Weigel, biographer of Pope John Paul II: “In recent years, though, no other similarly situated institution has been so transparent about its failures and none has done so much to clear its house. It took too long to get there, to be sure; but we are there.”

Yet, still, many questions need to be asked. Why is the Catholic Church being singled out for such attacks, when the number of priests who have committed such crimes are a tiny fraction when compared to the army of abusers in every strata of society all over the world?

The main reason is, in the words of a recent convert to Catholicism that: “The Catholic Church is like a stone in one’s stomach that refuses to be assimilated.” In other words, the Catholic Church adamantly refuses to be intimidated and to conform to the ‘dominant thought’ of the day and so she is being made to pay a high price for such non-conformity. She refuses to negotiate on important moral issues which she deems to be gravely offensive to God and against the dignity of man – divorce, abortion, homosexual acts, euthanasia and others. She believes that God’s laws should not be made to fit the whims and wishes of generations that come and go. All this she does not in her own name, made up as she is of frail human beings, but in the name of Christ who, entrusting His Church to them, promised that never will ‘the gates of hell’ prevail against her. If she fails to do so she will have to answer to her Lord, who was betrayed and denied by his closest friends, who later, despite their dismal behaviour during His passion, went on to preach in His name and even to shed their blood for Him.

Maybe, at the present moment we, and especially that vast majority of priests innocent of any crimes committed by some of their brethren, should recall the Lord’s words to his disciples, words that we have lulled ourselves into believing are somehow not applicable any more in the 21st century, “They shall hate you because of me”.

A word of warning should also go to those who are portraying child abuse as being solely a Catholic affair. By doing so they are making it easier for abusers the world over, who must be delighted that it is only the Catholic Church that is primarily being targeted for this crime.

Let us finally be consoled by the Lord’s words that the first Christians must have repeated to themselves as they were being led to their martyrdom. “Do not be afraid. I shall be with you always.”

Jacqueline Calleja

BALZAN