The ‘Other’ Abuse Crisis in the Catholic Church that No One is Talking About

How is it possible for bishops & priests to respect the bodies of the faithful, when some of them do not even respect the Body of the Lord?

John Monaco
24 min readFeb 21, 2019
1960? 1970? Nope. Try 2014.

It would not be an overstatement to say that 2018 was quite the rough year for the Catholic Church. Of course, as with any massive global organization, tensions typically run high. Pope Francis, suggested by some reporters that he will “enter history as the one who split the Catholic Church,” has been highly controversial since his ascent to the papacy in 2013. “Progressive” Catholics see Francis as “The Great Reformer”, while those of a more “traditional” bend suggest he is “The Dictator Pope”. While the ‘culture wars’ within the Church are neither new nor unique to the Church under Pope Francis, his papacy has emboldened liberals to take back control in the Church after suffering under two relatively conservative pontiffs — John Paul II (1978–2005) and Benedict XVI (2005–2013). Conservatives think that Francis is downplaying important doctrinal/moral issues, while liberals view Francis as a breath of fresh air. For these progressives, Francis is the “people’s pope”, who would rather serve the homeless than teach precise theological formulas. Regardless of one’s opinion of the Holy…

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John Monaco

Doctoral student in theology, seeking the true, good, and beautiful.