As a Catholic layperson far from the spotlight of fame I find myself wondering, what should my reaction be to these priests? First and foremost, I recognize that I do not know the personal guilt of these priests. In Fr. Euteneur's situation there is confessed guilt, but there also seems to be more allegations (as referenced in the press release of HLI). In Fr. Corapi's situation, his order, SOLT, has deemed him guilty of several serious transgressions, but he still denies the allegations. So who am I to believe?
Luckily for me, I am not their judge. Indeed, it is not up to me to determine the temporal fate of these priests. The main reason I want to know the truth of the situation is that I am curious. I am curious to know the sins and failings of other people because in my fallen condition there is part of me that believes that my own guilt is lessened if I can judge others, whether that be the priests or the bishops making these decisions. But this is not how my guilt is lessened. My guilt is not lessened by the guilt of others, my guilt is only lessened by the Mercy of Christ. It is His Blood, His Love that wipes away my sins. Similarly, it is only His Blood and His Love that can bring healing to these three situations. As someone so far removed from the situation, rather than concerning myself with who is committing what sin, I should be praying for whatever sin is present to be healed by His Love.
This brings me to the second reaction I have when it comes to these scandals: a sense that the call to perfection is even more important in an all pervasive digital world. We live in a world where sins can be easily documented, since our lives are being lived out in the digital sphere more and more. Our periods of anger, our impatience, our rash judgments, along with so many of the sins of impurity can be so easily traced in the digital realm. Ultimately, this can be a blessing, in that it holds us accountable for our actions. However, it should also be a warning to us.
The sins of members of the Church are a scandal to those outside the Church because they really and truly show a hypocrisy in the soul. If we are to preach Christ, then, we cannot make room in our lives for any "private" sins, as these may very well find themselves in the public light one day. Indeed, it's easy to get into the attitude that "Well, no one will ever know what I say/ do in this situation, so even though its a sin I'm going to do it." Not touching on how disturbing it is that we can care more for the opinions of other men than the the opinion of God, this statement is no longer true because of the digital realm. Now, our actions and thoughts are witnessed to in the pictures we put up on Facebook and the blog posts we write (a thought that is continually on my mind.)
But this level of accountability is, indeed, a gift from God. It is Our Lord saying to us, "I know you care for the opinion of others more than for My own opinion, so I will lead you closer to myself by making it more difficult to hide your faults. Perhaps through your fear of the bad opinion of others, you will turn away from your sin, and turn towards Me. Then, you will value My Love above all things." The scandals these priests are involved in should make us realize how thoroughly we must live our relationship with Christ. We cannot make room in our lives for sin if we are going to follow Jesus, especially if we want others to love Him as well. I hope and pray that as Catholics we might see these scandals as a lesson - that we must live out our lives in love with Christ both in public and in private.
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