Denver Catholic

22 SEPTEMBER 8-21, 2018 | DENVER CATHOLIC Perspectives Why we stay, and the Viganò Testimony Why remain Catholic (with so much scandal)? T he Sunday Mass scriptures during this summer of horrors have often been eerily appro- priate, beginning with Jeremiah' s polemic against malfeasant shepherds who mis- lead the Lord's fl ock (July 25) and continuing through the story of many disciples' defection after the "hard words" of the Bread of Life discourse (Aug. 26). And it's entirely understandable that more than a few Catholics have choked on the word "holy" these past few months, when asked to a¦ rm it of the Church during the Creed and the Oœ ertory. But while understandable, that still bespeaks a misunderstand- ing. The reason why is given imme- diately after the defection story in John 6: 60-66, when the Lord asks the Twelve if they, too, are going to bail on him and Peter answers, "Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life." Everlasting life is oœ ered to us sacramentally at every Mass. That is what we believe; that is why we remain in the Church; and that is why we must all bend every eœ ort, from our distinct states of life in the Mystical Body of Christ, to reform what must be reformed so that others may know and love the Lord Jesus and experience the life-giving fruits of friendship with him. The Church's current crisis is a crisis of fi delity and a crisis of holiness, a crisis of infi - delity and a crisis of sin. It is also a crisis of evangelization, for shepherds without credibility impede the proc- lamation of the Gospel – which, as the other headlines of the day suggest, the world badly needs. In the immediate aftermath of Archbishop Carlo-Maria Viganò's "Testimony," and its statement that Pope Francis knew of the dereliction of Theodore McCarrick, former arch- bishop of Washington and lifted the sanctions against McCarrick that had been imposed ( but never seriously enforced) by Pope Benedict XVI, the polemics within the Church imme- diately intensifi ed and ricocheted through the media. In this febrile atmosphere, it is virtually impossible for anyone to say anything without arousing suspicions and accusations. But as I knew Archbishop Viganò well during his service as papal represen- tative in Washington, I feel obliged to speak about him, which I hope will help others consider his very, very serious claims thoughtfully. First, Archbishop Viganò is a cou- rageous reformer, who was moved out of the Vatican by his immediate supe- riors because he was determined to confront fi nancial corruption in the Governatorato, the administration of Vatican City State. Second, Archbishop Viganò is, in my experience, an honest man. We spoke often about many things, large and small, and I never had the impression that I was being given anything other than what he believed in his conscience to be the truth. That does not mean that he got everything right; a man of humility and prayer, he would be the fi rst to concede that. But it does suggest that attempts to portray him as someone deliberately making false accusations, someone other than an honest witness to what he believes to be the truth, are unper- suasive. When he writes in his Tes- timony that he is "…ready to a¦ rm [these allegations] on oath calling on God as my witness," he means it. And he means it absolutely. Archbishop Viganò knows that, in swearing such an oath, he would be taking his soul into his hands; which means he knows that if he were to speak falsely, he would be unlikely to fi nd his soul again. Third, Archbishop Viganò is a loyal churchman of a certain generation and formation, bred to a genuine piety about the papacy. His training in the papal diplomatic service would instinctively lead him to make the defense of the Pope his fi rst, second, third and hundredth priority. If he believes that what he has now said is true, and that the Church needs to learn that truth in order to cleanse itself of what is impeding its evangel- ical mission, then he is overriding his engrained instincts for the gravest of reasons. What Archbishop Viganò testifi es to knowing on the basis of direct, personal, and in many cases docu- mentable experiences in Rome and Washington deserves to be taken seriously, not peremptorily dismissed or ignored. Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, the U.S. bishops' conference pres- ident, evidently agrees, as his Aug. 27 statement makes clear. That is another step toward the purifi cation and reform we need. The text below has been transcribed from a video released by Word on Fire Aug. 30. I wanted to speak to you again about this terrible crisis we're passing through in the Church, this crisis of sexual abuse and the countenancing of it by some bishops. I know I spoke to you a couple of days ago. But what's been strik- ing me recently is the number of people who seem to be calling for the abandonment of the Church:¨"Because of this crisis, it's time for us to leave the Church. We've simply had enough." Now, can I just say this? I totally understand people's feelings. I share them — the feelings of anger and frus- tration. I get it. I get it. But can I also suggest, I think this is precisely the wrong strategy at this moment in the Church's life. Leaving is not what we ought to be doing. What we ought to be doing is fi ghting. Let me explain that with a little historical reference. One of my great heroes is Abraham Lincoln. And Lin- coln of course operated politically at one of the most convulsive times in our national history, when slavery was threatening the very foundations of American democracy. Lincoln knew from the beginning of his career that the nation, as he put it, couldn't survive half-slave and half-free. But he saw more profoundly too that slav- ery as an institution was repugnant to the very principles of American democracy. Now, we can hear that in the Get- tysburg Address. And in a way it's sad that that's become so cliché, that we all memorize it in high school. But let's go back to those words:¨"Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal." Notice he's articulating the principles that defi ne American democracy: freedom and equality. Then he says,¨"Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so con- ceived and so dedicated, can long endure."¨He knew what was at stake in the war was American democracy itself. He knew that slavery was a kind of cancer that would undermine American ideals. Now, I suppose at the time an option would have been simply to give up on the American experiment.¨"I'm leaving the country. I've had it. This thing is a disaster. I'm giving up." But Lincoln wouldn't take that option. In fact, he led the country down the other path toward fi ghting — fi ghting for the ideals of American democracy. I think something similar is at stake right now. The Catholic Church, its great principles and ideals; the Catholic Church, grounded in Jesus Christ, the love of God made manifest in him in his dying and his rising; the Catholic Church, in all of its power and beauty and perfection, is indeed threatened by this terrible scourge of sexual abuse. It is indeed a blight upon the Church. It is appropriate that people feel anger, frustration. I suppose the option is on the table: leave.¨"I've had it. The thing is just too corrupt. I'm out of here."¨But see, I want to suggest everybody, that is not what is called for. Rather, what's called for is the Lincoln option: fi ght- ing for the Church that we believe in so powerfully; seeing this blight, naming it clearly, unambiguously, but then fi ghting to set things right. It's not the moment for cutting and run- ning. It's the moment for getting into The Catholic Di erence George Weigel is a distinguished senior fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C. GEORGE WEIGEL BISHOP ROBERT BARRON Guest Column Bishop Robert Barron is the founder of the global ministry, Word on Fire, and Auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles. He is the creator of the award winning documentary series "Catholicism."

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