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Fr. Federico Lombardi, Head of the Vatican Press Office, has spoken of the ambiguous interviews of Pope Francis in terms of 'a new genre' of informal and spontaneous statements, which may need to be entrusted to others for final articulation.
Out here at the cliff-face, away from the sophisticated world of Romanese, this kind of 'final articulation' is given by tabloid-style papers like the METRO newspaper pictured above. The extent of the damage done by this headline can only be guessed at, but it is sufficient to know that around one million copies of Metro are supplied free, every single day, to readers in tea shops, public-transport hubs and workplaces across England. Indeed, for every person who took time to leaf through the paper, countless others would have absorbed the front-page headline in passing. This includes lapsed and non-Catholic members of our own families.
It hardly needs mentioning, that such a shocking header could put people off the Church, whilst also hardening them against Catholics in general - and Catholic priests in particular. Imagine how threatened a priest in clerical attire would have felt travelling that day on the Tube. Or on the days and weeks that followed. In a cultural atmosphere which is already disturbingly threatening to orthodox Catholics, this is like pouring fuel on a bonfire. On the other hand, think how a parent or child would feel about priests after reading this troubling banner. You can just see them rushing to convert. Notice too, that this headline nevertheless throws a friendly light on Pope Francis. After all, it is he who is on the case, exposing the number of 'perverts' and bringing the 'child abuse shame of the Catholic Church' into the light; as the METROÂ sub-heading has it. Those who read more of the Scalfari interview - that wasn't an interview after all - would also have seen this issue linked to that of priestly celibacy. That is an old chestnut that has been levelled against the Church by sex-obsessed secularists for many a year. It is worrying to hear of celibacy being raised, apparently unchallenged, in the context of a discussion on child abuse. It is even more disturbing to see that the deaf atheist Scalfari is able to pass on the equally unchallenged impression that Pope Francis sees this ancient gift of Christ as 'a problem' to be solved. The clear teaching of the Church needs to be communicated through any media used by the Holy Father. When it is not, it is the lowly foot-soldiers of the 'New Evangelization' who have to deal - without any back-up from the hierarchy - with the confused and angry harangues of family, friends and co-workers.Â
As we said in our recent 'Tail Gunner' article, there is a limit to what we can do in the face of such vast damage to the Church and such grave danger to souls. Nevertheless, we can do something. In our catechetical training, we were taught to always try to draw out the 'positive catechetical utility' from any given situation. It is a sort of pedagogical version of looking for one swallow to make a summer. Through this article, then, we will accomplish two things. Firstly, we will point out that this figure of 1 in 50 priests being a 'pervert' - to use METRO's headline - appears grossly inflated. Certainly this inflation is true in the UK. Secondly, we will provide a brief catechesis on papal infallibility to avoid any confusion or misunderstanding about problems resulting from a new genre of 'papal interviews.'
1. Laurence England provided a link recently to some research which had been done by Catholics Unplug Your TV - CÂ UÂ T. Drawing on official NSPCC data, this research demonstrated that, of 29,837 registered sex offenders in the UK, who have actually committed crimes against children, Catholic priests make up just over 0.1%.
Clearly, there should never be any Catholic priests abusing any children. Any such crime is always a grave sin against God, a sacrilege against the sacred priesthood and a serious violation of an innocent human being, who has the right to be protected and guided in holiness by a priest. Such sins must always be condemned in the most clear terms and perpetrators must be punished by the law. Children must be protected from such sinners.Â
At the same time, the figure of 0.1% of convicted UK sex offenders suggests a much lower figure than 1 in every 50 priests. More like 1 in every 1,000. Certainly, the inflated figure is not representative of the situation in the UK.Â
The CÂ UÂ TÂ research also pointed to the fact that around 80% of priests who do abuse young people are actually men with a homosexual tendency. This reality is often ignored by 'mainstream' media.
2. The times when the Pope speaks with the charism of papal infallibility are limited. They do not include the 'genre' of papal interviews. The old Baltimore Catechism provides a succinct explanation of papal infallibility in proposition No 531: ''That the Pope may speak infallibly, or ex Cathedra: 1. He must speak on a subject of faith and morals; 2. He must speak as the Vicar of Christ and to the whole Church; 3. He must indicate by certain words, such as, we define, we proclaim, etc., that he intends to speak infallibly.'' The Pope is not protected from sin by the charism of infallibility, as he is a sinner, like the rest of us, in need of Christ's graces, salvation and sanctification through the sacraments of the Catholic Church. Infallibility does not protect him from sinning, but from teaching error when he speaks ex Cathedra. As an expression of Revelation, Tradition and the Natural and Divine Law, all teaching on faith and morals has to be in accord with the constant teaching of the Church expressed in the Deposit of Faith, received by the Apostles, and handed down to us by their successors.
In his explanation of the 'new genre' of papal interviews, the embattled Fr. Lombardi S.J. quipped that we are not dealing with Canon Law or the dogmatic precision of Denzinger. The headline in METRO demonstrates why such precision is - and always was - necessary for the glory of God, the good of the Church, the protection of Her members, and the salvation of souls.
Catholics must pray that such precision returns soon if their 'putting out into the deep' is not to end with a voyage to the bottom of the sea... Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
