Natural Family Planning International

I think the only appropriate reaction to the revelation of the sexual abuse scandal is sadness.  Sadness for Pope Francis.  Sadness for the Church. Sadness for all those who have been adversely affected by sins and coverups dating back even to the Sixties.

The John Jay Report showed that in 1960 and again in 1968-69 there was a big spike in the number of “first experience” by homosexual priests.  That is, as they saw the widespread acceptance of the Pill and the whole Sexual Revolution in 1960, they apparently concluded that the acceptance of anything and everything applied to them as well.  In 1968, they could rationalize that such behaviors had been authorized by the widespread rejection of Humanae Vitae and traditional morality right within the Church. This whole unhappy scene stems from the widespread dissent from Humanae Vitae.

Some will rightly argue that in the case of the priests using minors, that was not only a crime but a wrongful use of influence and power.  I agree, but I think it is quite possible for these guys to have rationalized that what they were doing power-wise was like parents who use influence to get their kids to eat their veggies.  I mean, if these guys really believed that sodomy is a good thing, it is very possible that they rationalized that they were just sharing something good.  Perverse?  Of course.  But that’s what happens when a person lets the idol of sex become the Principle of his or her decision-making.  In 1971, Theological Studies published my article, “Continued Dissent: Is It Responsible Loyalty?” in which I showed that the decision-making principles published by archdissenter Father Charles Curran could not say NO to spouse-swapping. I am not aware of any published criticism of that article, and no one criticized me personally.

What can we do?  What every Catholic needs to do is to heed the request of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Fatima 101 years ago:  pray the rosary every day for world peace, for the conversion of Russia and for the conversion of sinners all throughout the world.  And we can add a special emphasis for all the conversions necessary at every level within the Church.

John F. Kippley