Philip F. Lawler - The Smoke of Satan: How Corrupt and Cowardly Bishops Betrayed Christ, His Church, and the Faithful . . . and What Can Be Done About It

Y ou hold in your hands what is, in many ways, the most difficult book we at TAN have published since my family acquired the company in 2008. It is also one of the most important. The recent revelations about Cardinal McCarrick and the publication of the Pennsylvania Report have reminded all Catholics that something remains dreadfully wrong in our beloved Church. Though much progress has been made in the area of sexual abuse prevention and reporting procedures in most dioceses, fundamental problems persist in that area as well as others. The unpleasant truth stares us in the face.

For twelve years, I chaired a Diocesan Review Board for Allegations of Sexual Misconduct Involving Minors. Along with other board members, I have personally spoken with victims and alleged victims and heard their horror stories firsthand. We interviewed accused priests and heard the honest denials of some and the lies of others. We found some allegations to be credible and others not credible. In some cases, we recommended suspension from ministry and laicization, while in other cases, we concluded the allegations to be false and defamatory. We dealt with both civil lawyers and canon lawyers.

On a personal level, the abuse scandal is something I have personally lived since 2002. I know firsthand that many good and honorable bishops have worked diligently to eradicate this sin and this crime of abuse from our Church. The statistics indicate much success has been realized. They should be highly commended. Their efforts and achievements should not be ignored because of the sins of others. Nevertheless, we have recently learned that some bishops were more involved in covering up for abusive priests than we previously knew. These individuals may never fully realize the damage they have caused, but the damage is real and extensive. There are a number of bishops who put the protection of reputations above the protection of children. They should be called to account just as the courageous bishops who did not should be lauded for their fidelity.

Throughout my many years of dealing with the abuse issue, I have asked myself what is the cause. I long ago concluded that sexual abuse was a symptom of a diabolical influence that entered the Church, the smoke of Satan to which Pope Saint Paul VI referred, for abuse and cover-ups on a scale that we have seen do not just spring forth from a healthy organization. Something beyond the abusive conduct itself must be at work.

In the following pages, noted Catholic journalist and author Phil Lawler demonstrates that what has occurred in the past fifty plus years in the Catholic Church constitutes nothing less than a massive betrayal: first and foremost, the betrayal of the poor souls sexually abused by men they looked to as spiritual fathers, but a betrayal in many other ways as well. Principally, what Lawler argues is that many bishops have betrayed God and the faithful by failing to, in season and out of season, fulfill the three fundamental duties of their office: to teach, to sanctify, and to govern.

While much progress was made following the publication of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Catholics would have to have their heads in the sand to ignore the fact that a widespread ignorance of basic Catholic teaching remains the norm rather than the exception among much of the laity. The clearest indicator of this, as Lawler emphasizes, are the depressing statisticsboth official in the form of studies, and anecdotal in the form of just taking a look aroundof how many Catholics use birth control in their marriage.

One would rather not so often point to sexual sins as examples, and, perhaps sadly, we need not do so, for examples of a fundamental ignorance of or confusion about basic Catholic doctrine among the laity is all too obvious again both statistically and anecdotally. Anecdotally, perhaps the strongest evidence is the fact that, in most American parishes, everyone or almost everyone receives communion every Sunday. And yet, if you visited the confession line on the Saturday afternoon when it is usually offered, you would see the priest and perhaps a small number of penitents, maybe one or two or three. That fact alone betrays a fundamental ignorance of the sacramental economy. The first duty of the priest is to bring Christ to the people and the people to Christ in a phrase, to save souls. The ordinary way in which a Catholic priest does so is through hearing the sins of the penitent and granting Gods absolution. Why are not more priests in the confessional before every daily Mass as mine is? Why do not more bishops insist that they be there? As any priest who offers frequent opportunities for confession can tell you: Offer it and they will come.

Lawlers chapter titled With Apologies to the Martyrs asks the question, What was different? What inspired so many of the faithful in past centuries to abandon their homes and their families and go to distant lands to bring the gospel, to bring Christ and salvation, to strangers. What kind of homilies did they hear? What so impressed them that they recognized their own salvation was intimately connected to how radically they were willing to follow Christ in the love of God and neighbor. A bishops duty is to sanctify, his entire flock to be sure, but in a special way his duty is to sanctify his priests, who then, in turn, bring Gods healing and grace to a suffering world. We do have, today, a number of good and holy priests and bishops, on fire for the faith; however, we also see a number that seem apathetic about their solemn responsibilities or are too timid to carry them out, or, horrible to note, seem not to hold the Catholic Faith at all. There was a wonderful book published a number of years ago by Father George Rutler entitled