When I was in seminary studying for ordination, one class in Canon law made a very big impression on me. The topic at hand was scandal. We were all to avoid scandal at all costs. Perhaps one of the reasons it struck home so hard was that the church itself was undergoing a tremendous scandal at the time. There were many cases of child abuse by clergy which had been covered up (uncovered?) from the highest levels ( to avoid scandal ). Part of the problem was in order to avoid a scandal, they perpetuated, covered up and allowed to continue in various forms heinous crimes against children. In effect, the attempts to avoid scandal turned the church against the very things they claimed to stand for. The behaviour of many religious and especially the hierarchy was not all cozy Christian or caring. To avoid scandal, the church in many instances abandoned the faith. Apologies for abuse is one thing but the Roman church has yet to come to terms with their lack of responsibility and complete culpability for the cover up and lack of decent moral actions to correct the situation. So we sat in class learning about how to avoid scandal.
All this would be so easily dismissed because the Roman church has essentially lost it's moral compass. The truth is, we cause scandal every time we act contrary to what our beliefs are. I have made many mistakes in my life. Have they been taken to heart by someone that thinks 'if he is a christian, I'll have none of it'. When we wear a cross around our neck and blast someone who cuts us off on the road, what message do we give? Is this how we would convert people.
It's almost certain that none of us has done anything that could rival the sins of the Roman church but we are after all human. Even if you do not believe in formal confession as a sacrament, we still have to admit we have sinned and are likely to do so again. Do we recognize what our sins can bring forth in others or how we are perceived as Godly people? Sounds a bit like scandal. Can we recognize our part in it?
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