Biggest Challenge for Catholic Church in 21st Century - Essay Sample

Introduction

The Roman Catholic Church, also known as the Catholic Church, is known to be the single-most largest Christian church in the world (Lefebvre, and Perez-Agote, 2018). As of 2016, the church had an approximated 1.3 billion baptized believers. Being virtually the world's oldest and still functioning institution, the Roman Catholic is considered to have been responsible for western civilization. According to the church's teaching, it is the one, holy and apostolic church left behind by Jesus Christ. The church's bishops are then considered to be the successors of Christ's apostles and the Pope is considered the successor of Saint Peter (Lefebvre, and Perez-Agote, 2018). The church also teaches that Jesus Christ conferred primacy to Saint Peter and that it, therefore, practices the original Christian faith. Further, the church teaches that it reserves infallibility that was passed down by the sacred tradition. However, in the eyes of the people, brought about by press coverage, church investigations and even reports from the United Nations, the Catholic Church has entangled itself with clerical scandals throughout the globe, causing people to slowly lose faith in the Catholic system (Lefebvre, and Perez-Agote, 2018). In this paper, we shall discuss the reported scandals that have tainted the image of the Catholic Church and how they have been perceived to cause people to lose their faith in the system.

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Homosexuality Scandals

As members of an institution that strongly condemns homosexuality, gay Catholic priests face a whole different level of homophobia. Although the number of gay priests remains unknown, it is impossible to dismiss that there are no gay priests in the church. Most of these priests fear disciplinary consequences that might follow disclosure, forcing them to live under the veil of secrecy from 2002, when massive reports came out about sexual abuse by Catholic clergymen, the issue of sexual abuse involving clergy have received intense attention (Harris, 2018). Very few empirical research studies have been conducted focusing on homosexuality among Catholic priests. Studies that have been done on the subject have occasionally referred to such priests as motivated men seeking both personal and professional integration. The desire by homosexual priests to stay sexually active and at the same time remain loyal to church doctrines has been thought to have very damaging effects on these priests.

What is most disturbing about these priests committing such acts is that regardless of where they are in their process of forming their sexual identity, internalized homophobia is often so prevalent that it manifests in their lives even if they come out. Worst still, these particular persons are in no way at liberty to come out. Studies have since emerged that homosexuality continues to be enabled by the church as it forces homosexual clergy to stay in the closet (Harris, 2018). Again, being an institution that strongly condemns homosexuality, it is quite ironical that some of the priests that strongly condemn the behavior are the ones that find themselves entangled in the act of homosexuality. People continue to act like they are shocked and outraged without realizing that they are only depicting how Catholics still refuse to see the underlying issue to the isolated cases. In cases that involve these priests, it is quite obvious to see that the victims are usually young men. It is accurate to acknowledge that no man in their right minds would prey on vulnerable young people. It is, therefore, accurate to presume that homosexuality is a key component of why the clergy are involved in sex abuse (Harris, 2018). It can, therefore, be said that the clergy continues to battle with cases of homosexual priests that have been forced into hiding. With the rise of scandals of homosexuality within the church, one can admit that it has become one of the main challenges facing the Catholic Church today.

Sex Scandals and Pedophiles

Through the 20th century, into the 21st century, sexual scandals involving priests, nuns and members of the religious order have been widespread, leading to numerous allegations, investigations, trials and even convictions (Higgins, and Kavanagh, 2010). Most of these cases have usually involved young children being molested by the clergy. For decades, the Catholic Church has been accused of covering up cases that involved the clergy, claiming that the incidents taint the image of the church (Rashid, and Barron, 2018). It is, however, saddening that the same institution that condemns sexual abuse can go ahead to cover up cases when one of the prominent members of the church gets involved in humiliating acts. The most saddening aspect about the issue of cover-ups, however, is not that the church aims to protect its image; it is only logical that the church might be purposing to do much to retain the faith of its believers. Unfortunately, the numerous children that suffer the humiliation of being sexually abused will surely end up damaged for the rest of their lives (Rashid, and Barron, 2018). It is quite difficult to get such a child to believe in the church again, given that the same place they sought refuge in the same place that brought them damage that would follow them throughout their lives. The question that such a child could be asking is; if the church is as unsafe as the dark alleys, then where can they get refuge.

Considering that children are the future in all aspects of life, it is only logical that people continue to lose faith in the church as time goes by. Some of these sexual abuse cases usually involve children as young as three years old (Higgins, and Kavanagh, 2010). Psychologically healthy men are not expected to force themselves on young boys and girls, especially because they have some measure of authority over them. It, therefore, means that while handling such cases of sexual abuse involving young children-as young as three years-it means that we are no longer talking about psychologically healthy people (Rashid, and Barron, 2018). Yet the Vatican still refuses to acknowledge this issue. Instead of mitigating the issue, they have even made it worse, trying to cover up the cases without realizing the damage that these clergymen have already caused to the young generation.

Premarital Sex

According to the Catholic theology of sexuality, drawn from natural law, divine revelations and canonical scriptures, sexual behavior is evaluated by sexual morality according to standards laid out by the theology of morality. This theology often provides general principles which Catholics can use to evaluate whether specific actions meet certain standards of morality (Marienberg, 2018). To be clear, premarital sex, according to the theology of sexuality, does not meet the standards of morality at all. It is, therefore, accurate to argue that Catholics strongly condemn premarital sex.

However, in recent times, in the 21st century, cases have been revealed of premarital sex involving the presumed men of God. In recent reports, the Pope-Pope Francis-gave a stance on sexual issues, showing a willingness to reach out to the flock. However, these sentiments were viewed as a liberalizing attitude that others saw as creating a crisis within the Catholic Church (Marienberg, 2018). Up to some level, there are some prominent members of the Catholic Church that have made peace with premarital sex, seeing no grave issue with the act. However, many still believe in the doctrines that once condemned the act.

The opening sentences to the Vatican read that Christ is the light of all nations and not only the church. However, the light that is Christ, shines on the face of the church, especially in how it proclaims the gospel. Recent scandals involving the church have been raising questions on what the church stands for (Marienberg, 2018). Believers are feeling misled by the interpretation of the same doctrines that have guided their belief for a long time now. It is confusing to try and understand the interpretation that the clergy has come up with in trying to accommodate the ways of men into the church (Frawley-O'Dea, and Goldner, 2016). If the Catholic doctrines strongly condemn premarital sex, then believers can feel a little confused regarding which way the church has taken now, especially regarding such a sensitive issue as premarital sex. This confusion seems to emanate from the dilemma of whether the Church has begun to accept "sinful" activities into the church, and whether it is wrong to condemn these acts anymore.

Celibacy

According to the Catholic Church, clerical celibacy allows only unmarried men to be ordained to the episcopate. The concept of celibacy in the Catholic context remains to be unmarried. Its obligation has remained to be seen as a consequence of an obligation to observe perfect continence for the purpose of the heavenly kingdom. Advocates of the Catholic doctrine often see celibacy as a special gift from God through which sacred ministers can remain closer to Christ easily (Mayblin, 2018). The concept of celibacy is for these ministers to remain committed to Christ with undivided hearts.

With the recent accusations of clergy in sexual abuses and pedophiles, it is hard to see the meaning of celibacy within the church. It is quite unfortunate that member of the priesthood have been preaching celibacy as a means to dedicate oneself to Christ when they cannot suppress their sexual activity for the sake of staying committed to the course. When a member of the priesthood is accused of sexual violations, especially of a minor, it becomes difficult for the flock to know who to turn to anymore (Mayblin, 2018). What such accusations bring to the church are increasing questions that the clergy themselves are quite incapable of answering.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Catholic Church as it stands should be a fortress for believers, considering the holiness that the priesthood is likened to. In as much as the priesthood is composed of fellow humans, there are certain things that are quite unexpected of them. It, therefore, becomes quite hypocritical that the same people that stand before a congregation to condemn an act like homosexuality, pedophilia, and premarital sex can go behind their teachings to engage in those exact acts. When such information comes out into the public, believers find it difficult to believe what the priest stands for. Following justification of likening people who work together to behave the same way, it becomes difficult to look at another priest differently from those that have been accused of engaging in the very acts that they strongly condemn in public. This notion justifies the reason why believers find it hard to believe the shepherd if the shepherd themselves begin to act like wolves instead. With the constant scandals surrounding the church today, it can be said that the Church itself is facing one of the most challenging times in its history. In particular, with constant debate on homosexuality, the church seems to be facing its biggest challenge in scandals of homosexuality among the clergy.

References

Harris, A., 2018. 'Pope Norman', Griffin's Report and Roman Catholic Reactions to Homosexual Law Reform in England and Wales, 1954-1971. In New Approaches in History and Theology to Same-Sex Love and Desire (pp. 93-116). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.

Rashid, F. and Barron, I., 2018. Critique of the Vatican's Role in Recent Child Protection Practice: A Brief Report. Journal of child sexual abuse, 27(2), pp.141-153.

Marienberg, E., 2018. Bible, religion, and Catholicism in Sting's album and musical The Last Ship. Studies in Musical...