For anyone who thought that the clergy sexual abuse scandal was something that was left in the past, the recent revelations regarding former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick have shown that the cancer has metastasized. Round two promises to be uglier than round one, especially since the former Cardinal’s actions were widely known throughout the American Church and beyond. The laity could be excused for harboring a feeling of déjà vu, especially given the overall weariness with feeling like sheep without a shepherd. They might even be excused for looking for looking for ways to take matters into their own hands; might that is until they read the writings of one of the Doctors of the Church.
St. Catherine and the Dialogue on the Clergy
Best known for her ecstatic dictation of a dialogue with God the Father, St. Catherine of Siena lived in an era marked by clerical corruption. In fact, she was instrumental in reforming the Church by executing some of the very things the Father dictated to her. There are large sections in her Dialogue in which God tells Catherine what must be done about sinful clergy. These words, rooted deeply in the Gospel message are particularly relevant for lay people today and merit special attention given the state of the Church today.
The Father begins His dialogue with Catherine reminding her of the great dignity of priests and prelates regardless of their personal sin. He tells her that “it is impossible to have a greater dignity than theirs” because He has made them “My Christs” (Dialogue, 113). This dignity attaches to the office and thus cannot be wiped away no matter how often the clergy attempts to deface it through personal sin. He is well aware that with this dignity comes a great responsibility and that “by sinning they are abusing the souls of their neighbors” and will one day have to answer for it; “Their dignity in being My ministers will no save them from My punishment…they will be punished more severly than all the other because they have received more from My kindness. Having sinned so miserably they are deserving of greater punishment” (121). But from the perspective of the laity there is always a certain dignity such that “To Me redounds every assault they make on My ministers.” He goes on to say that “a person can do no worse violence than to assume the right to punish My ministers” (116). What the Father is reminding us is that it is the Church’s role to punish the sinful clergy and not the laity (unless appointed by the Church to do so). This applies even when the Church seems to ignore it or turns a blind eye. This, as we shall see in a moment, does not mean the laity need to act like sheep led to the slaughter but that they have an active role in bringing about justice.
This role is revealed to Catherine by the Father when He begins “to show her the wretchedness of their [the sinful clergy] lives” (121). First He describes how the sin is made manifest in their unwillingness to correct others. The ministers “let My members grow rotten for want of correction…because of fear of losing their rank and position or because they themselves are living in the same or greater sins.” It is as if they are blind leaders of the blind (117).
The Sins of the Clergy
And what, besides human respect, are these “same or greater sins”? The Father “reveals these miserable sins of theirs,” the “stench which displeases not only Me…but the devils as well.” These sins are the sins which are so hateful to Me that for this sin alone five cities (Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim and Zoar) were struck down by My divine judgment. For My divine justice could no longer tolerate it, so despicable to Me is this abominable sin…So you see, dearest daughter, how abominable this sin is to Me in any person. Now imagine how much more hateful it is in those I have called to live celibately” (124).
These words may have been spoken in the 14th Century, but they are as relevant today as they were then. The parallels to our situation today are uncanny so that through St. Catherine God the Father has left us a blueprint for how the laity ought to respond . Catherine grasps that these sins are revealed by Providential design. The Father says, “Sometimes I reveal these miserable sins of theirs to My servants (just as I did to you) so that they may be even more concerned for their salvation and hold them out to Me with greater compassion, praying for them with sorrow for their sins and the insult they are to Me ”(124). God the Father wants the laity to bring these sinful clerics before Him in merciful prayer so that He might be further glorified in His mercy. Of this response, many of our contemporaries have already spoken. But Catherine knows the Father is asking for more from us when she pleads, “O eternal Father, be merciful to Me and to these creatures of yours! Otherwise take the soul from my body, for I do not think I can stand it anymore. Or give me some respite by showing me where I and Your other servants can find refuge so that this leprosy will not be able to harm us or deprive us of our bodily and spiritual purity” (124). She begs the Father how it is that she might escape this leprosy that is infecting the Body. The Father tells her, “charity will make you put up with your neighbors with true patience by enduring pain, torment, and weariness no matter what their source. In this way you will flee and escape the leprosy” (124). In short, the Father is asking St. Catherine and each one of us not only for prayer, but for penance. He is calling upon the laity in a very specific way “to fill up in their flesh what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of His body, which is the Church” (Col 1:24).
From within the context of the renewed universal call to holiness, God has providentially arranged for the outward show of sanctity of the Church to depend in a very particular way on the laity. In an age infected with clericalism this is a most important message. If the laity are truly to be God’s other “Christs” as well, then they must continue His mission of reparation. This trial by fire is a clarion call in an ecclesial environment that has shunned penance for generations. Now the future of the Church depends upon it. The Holy Spirit may have promised it would not fail, but a renewed laity can make it thrive. That renewal begins with lives dedicated to penance and reparation. St. Catherine of Siena, pray for us!