The Betrayed Church, by Eric Sammons

By Eric Sammons, Crisis Magazine, March 31, 2021

Today is the Wednesday of Holy Week, also known as Spy Wednesday, when we remember the most infamous act of betrayal in human history: Judas agreeing to deliver Christ to His enemies for 30 pieces of silver. This act of betrayal is still shocking to the Christian; we cannot imagine how an apostle, so close to Christ, could betray Him. Yet today the Body of Christ, the Church, is still being betrayed by the successors to the apostles.

The most well-known betrayal is the sex abuse crisis that became public in 2002. For decades priests and prelates abused minors, and members of the hierarchy covered it up in an effort to protect the institution (and their own hides). The response to this massive scandal, however, was not penance, but policy. It was 99% legal, 1% spiritual.  …