Nothing new. It's happened before. But this time it is on a global scale.

Innocent III dreams of St. Dominic's

reforming the Church.

More famously perhaps, Innocent III

dreams of St. Francis 'rebuilding' the Church.

What is on a global scale?  The scandal and corruption in the Church and society.

Unless you are a cloistered Carmelite without Internet access - yes, they exist - we all hear the rumors and scandals as quickly as they arise.  We also hear the confirmed reports and see photos and videos of clerics, and anyone else behaving badly.  Nearly everything is documented today. 

Over the centuries - the epochs and eras, the Church has needed reform.  At times it has fallen into disrepair, disrepute, decadence, and as Ravasi noted during the Pope's Lenten retreat, "divisions, dissent, careerism, jealousies" exist amongst the clergy.  As we all know, the Church has also suffered schism and heretical attacks.

I'm not playing historian here, just making note.

St. Peter Damian

Image source.

Just today I came across another blog whose author posted about St. Peter Damian(i) and his reforms, which reminded me that the scandals back then were not unlike those we have been experiencing in our time.  St. Peter was born at the beginning of the second millennium, 1007 and died in 1072 or '73, on yesterday's feast, the Chair of Peter.  The decadence during his day parallels our own, especially as regards corruption in the Church, simony and sexual immorality.  (Simony not so much - sexual immorality, to be sure.)   Damiani wrote an explosive treatise on the matter, titled Book of Gomorrah.  The saint's treatise 'caused a great stir and aroused not a little enmity against its author.'  Just as it would today.  Another review of the work can be found here.   (Be advised - not a few people do not 'like' what this author has to say either.)




Some day it will all come to an end.

 

 

 

Song for this post here.  Better version here.