Time for good deeds from the dying Catholic church

[cbayer]

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/mar/15/catholic-church-of-scotland-dying

Amid shame and scandal, the church's clerics do little or nothing; it needs another ecclesiastical convulsion

Kevin McKenna
The Observer, Saturday 15 March 2014 20.00 GMT


Bishops in Glasgow's St Andrew's cathedral: in less than a generation it is expected that Scotland will have barely 40 priests. Photograph: David Cheskin/PA

A woman of faith strolling elegantly through her 70s spoke to me last week about betrayal and hypocrisy. This lady's Catholicism has nourished and sustained her every day of her life but now, though her faith remains, her respect for the people who lead her church has vanished. In its place there is only anger and bitterness.

Just over a year after Cardinal Keith O'Brien was forced to resign as leader of the Catholic church in Scotland, the consequences of decades of abuse and lies by priests and bishops have been laid bare.

The revelation last week that around half of the Catholic parishes in the west of Scotland may have to close in the next few years owing to a shortage of priests seemed at first to be shocking. But this has been whispered for years now and did not surprise those of us who have witnessed the slow withering of the Catholic church.

In Scotland, it is now barely fit for its purpose of bringing souls to their saviour and providing light and hope in places where there is none. It has nothing to say any more about the issues of the day and, frankly, who would listen anyway?

more at link

[rug]

1. It survived John Knox. It will survive Kevin McKenna .

[cbayer]

2. Agree. I don't think it's going to die, but

I do think it's going to have to change.

I remain hopeful and do not wish to lose all the good things the RCC does.