<\/p>\n
A Fallible By Rabbi The only <\/p>\n For most of Which begs But rather <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The Later this As the But the Pope And I The Western Rabbi – – – – – – – – – *Follow Shmuley *Shmuley’s on *Buy Rabbi *Join the
\nPope, an Imperfect Church<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nShmuley Boteach<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\ninstitution worse at PR than Israel is the Catholic Church. Never in my life
\nhave I seen such a formidable world power handle a crisis more catastrophically
\nthan how the Vatican is handling the current scandal of pedophile priests. And
\nthe sad thing is that the weakening of the Church in general, and this pope in
\nparticular, is bad all round. The Church does incalculable good throughout the
\nworld with innumerable orphanages, schools, and hospitals. And for
\nJewish-Catholic relations Benedict has been a godsend (pardon the pun).<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\nits two thousand years the Catholic Church has been anti-Semitic, responsible
\nfor horrific atrocities against Jews and others who branded heretics. But in
\nthe latter half of the twentieth century the Church repented of its past due to
\nthe courage and spiritual integrity of three special men: John XXIII, the
\ngreatest of all modern Popes, John Paul II, a leader of extraordinary humanity
\nand humility, and Joseph Ratzinger, the cerebral Cardinal largely responsible
\nfor the theological underpinnings that served as John Paul’s foundation in
\nreaching out to the Jews. In the five short years of his pontificate Ratzinger,
\nnow Benedict XVI, has visited Synagogues in Germany, New York, and Rome, not to
\nmention his much-heralded visit to Israel last year.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nthe question why the Church would itself undermine this impressive record first
\nwith Cardinal Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals, comparing the attacks
\non Benedict to that of Pius XII. Pius was the highly impious, amoral pontiff,
\nwho signed a Concordat with Hitler in 1933 and never once directly condemned
\nNazi anti-Semitism or the holocaust. In October, 1943, he watched literally as
\nthe Jews of Rome were rounded up to be sent to Auschwitz and did not publicly
\nprotest.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nthan unnecessarily alienating the Jews by comparing the attacks on the
\nChurch over pedophilia to anti-Semitism, as the Pope’s personal preacher
\nRaniero Cantalamessa did in the Pope’s presence, it would be wise for the
\nChurch to learn the following from their Jewish friends: don’t be afraid to be
\nfallible and human.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nprinciple difference between the Catholicism and Judaism is the former’s
\nemphasis on the perfection of Jesus and the infallibility of the Pope versus
\nthe latter’s insistence that no human is divine and no Biblical figure is
\nperfect. While people are not prepared to forgive the infractions of the
\nperfect, they are extremely understanding of the failings of humans when they
\napologize sincerely for their failures and take full responsibility for their actions.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nmonth I am scheduled to meet the Pope through Gary Krupp, with whom I have
\nsparred over Pius’s legacy but who has since become a friend. I wish I could
\nimpress upon the well-intentioned leader of the Catholic Church the need to
\ncome clean with the public. Face the people and tell them how you never wished
\nfor any children to be harmed and it breaks your heart to see how your inaction
\nand obstruction may have led to more kids being violated. But you made the
\ncolossal error of moving slowly and cautiously because you feared what public
\nexposure and the defrocking of criminal Priests would do to the reputation of
\nthe Church. You erred hugely in putting the needs of an institution ahead of
\nthe safety of the individuals that institution is meant to protect.
\nExplain how you further erred by accepting the prevailing psychiatric opinion
\nof the time that pedophiles could be reformed through counseling and you
\nthought that after extreme therapy these Priests were cured. Admit you screwed
\nup and ask forgiveness for your failures. Human beings forgive the flaws of
\nother human beings. But they don’t forgive gods. Pledge the remainder of your
\ndays to helping heal the victims, making reasonable restitution, and declare
\nunequivocally that henceforth the Church will hand over all priests guilty of
\nmolestation to the authorities for prosecution.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nauthor of Kosher Sex,<\/i> a pivot in the intersection between faith and
\nsexuality, I would counsel the Church to announce a conclave examining the
\neffects, if any, of clerical vows of celibacy on pedophilia in the clergy. Some
\nwould argue there is no connection. But few would deny that an announcement of
\nthis magnitude by the Pope would demonstrate the seriousness with which he is
\naddressing the issue and his preparedness to take unprecedented action to heal
\nthe Church.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nis not the only one who needs to apologize. Many in the media have gone beyond
\nall reason in their attacks. Maureen Dowd, who is Catholic, offered the
\nunbelievable comparison of the Church’s refusal to ordain women or place them
\nin positions of leadership with Saudi Arabia’s human rights abuses of women.
\nAre you kidding? The Saudis, in 2002, allowed 15 High School girls to burn to
\ndeath rather than run out of their smoldering school without a head covering.
\nAmnesty International accuses the Saudis of subjecting women to “arbitrary
\narrest… torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment;
\nand the use of the death penalty” for religious infractions, like meeting with
\nmen in public. Yakin Erturk, the United Nations special representative on
\nviolence against women, visited Saudi Arabia and reported ‘the domestic abuse
\n[women] systematically encounter with little prospect of redress.’ She added
\nthat the Muttawa, the Saudi religious police, are “responsible for serious
\nhuman rights abuses in harassing, threatening and arresting women who ‘deviate
\nfrom accepted norms.” And then there are the continued reports of female
\ngenital mutilation that is practiced in northern Saudi Arabia.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nthought it’s only we Jews who can be so self-hating.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nworld suffers from an epidemic of materialism, divorce, broken families, and
\ncelebrity obsession, the most effective antidote for which is more spirituality
\nand a stronger religious presence. The Catholic Church might be terrible at
\ncrisis management and the pope may not be perfect. But what might emerge from
\nthis dark episode is a more transparent, more accessible, and more sensitive
\nChurch which, in its humanity, might just begin to connect with the eighty
\npercent of lapsed Catholics who pay only lip-service to the Church throughout
\nthe Western world. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nShmuley Boteach, founder of This World: The Values Network<\/i>, has just
\npublished ‘The Blessing of Enough.’ Folllow him on Twitter @Rabbishmuley.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\n– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –<\/span><\/p>\n
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\nShmuley’s newest book THE KOSHER SUTRA at <\/span>http:\/\/tinyurl.com\/koshersutra<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n
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\nto <\/span>www.FridayisFamily.com<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n