POPE FRANCIS RECIEVES WRITTEN RESIGNATIONS FROM THE ENTIRE CHILEAN MAGISTERIUM

Left: Pope Francis, 265th successor of Saint Peter the Apostle.

Right: Archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta, Successor of Saint Publius.

In January Pope Francis sent the Archbishop of Malta, Charles Scicluna, the Holy See's most respected sex crimes expert, to Chile to investigate Bishop Juan Barros. Scicluna's report led Pope Francis to invite victims to Vatican City in order to personally apologize for his own misrepresentation of the reality of the corruption, abuse and cover-ups in the Chilean Catholic Church due to false information given to him by its bishops. He then summoned the entire Chilean Magisterium to Vatican City from May 15th to May 17th. Yesterday was the last day of that 3 day meeting at which the findings of Archbishop Scicluna's 2,300 page report were presented. As of yesterday, every bishop in Chile (34 in total) has offered his written resignation to Pope Francis as an admission of their shared responsibility for the corruption present in the Chilean Church. This is the first time in the 2000 year history of the Catholic Church that the magisterial authority of an entire nation has offered its simultaneous resignation.

I cannot speak highly enough of my impression of Archbishop Scicluna and of Pope Francis.

Archbishop Scicluna is the successor of Saint Publius, who was ordained the first bishop of Malta by Saint Paul after Paul shipwrecked on the island. Pope Francis is the 265th successor of Saint Peter. Most importantly, all five of these men mentioned have defined themselves in life as sinners in need of a Savior. The more reason not to allow news of such corruption to disuade you from the Truth. The charism of the priesthood to confer the Sacraments is never measured by the moral character of the man confering them. It is measured soley by the infinite power and grace of Christ by which such charisms are invested. The Charism of the priesthood was invested in 12 sinners. They passed it on to others through Sacramental Ordination all the way down to today. All men. All sinners. We try to offer the best we have from our communities for this task, but our perception of what is "best" is sometimes distorted and fallen. Other times we just can't see the whole plan. After all it was Jesus Himself who Ordained Judas, whom He knew would betray Him, as one of the first 12 bishops of the Catholic Church. And it was Jesus Himself who appointed Peter, thrice guilty of apostasy, as our first Pope. So don't lose hope in the Church that Christ established. To lose hope in the Church because it is made up of sinners is to lose hope in Christ Himself, who chose Sinners.

It has been quite common to hear people brag about leaving the Church over this scandal. This doesn't fly with me. You either believe in the Church that Christ founded or you don't. I feel that it is a matter of justice to remember that all the progress that has been made in this area for the past 30 years has been made strictly by those who never left. If it were not for victims who refused to give up their belief in the Church and for bishops and popes and laypeople struggling to uncover the truth and to make wrongs right, being accused all the while of pledging loyalty to a nation of criminals by our peers in the secular and protestant worlds, nothing would be changing at all.