On the Dublin Report

I'm not sure what can fittingly be said about the Dublin Report. I guess that I'd suggest reading the report itself rather than relying on media accounts or analysis. It's a fair report. It lays blame justly without having an axe to grind. The details of the abuse - and the realisation that much of it could have been prevented had senior clergymen acted decisively and with spine is sickening.
A Humbler Church?
There have been calls for a 'humbler' Church. I'm a young man. I don't have any real memory of a time when the Church 'ran' everything in society, so some of those calls don't make a whole lot of sense to me. They seem to be aimed at the realities of an Ireland which is almost dead. Likewise, the cliché of rich senior prelates living the high-life and a culture of unquestioning obedience doesn't really relate to anything I've seen in modern Ireland. Yes, our Bishops may live in historic buildings, but the few bishops I know live very modestly behind those walls. I freely admit that no priest in Ireland is going to be living on the breadline, but many of the priests I know gave up very prestigious careers and livelihoods in the secular arena for a life which pays significantly less and brings its own demands and pressures. They're not asking applause for that. However, I think that they do, however, deserve the presumption of sincerity.
Whose humility?
If there needs to be a humbler Church, it seems to me that we need to strive for a holy humility. It sometimes seems to me that when people talk about a 'humbler Church', they really mean a Church who doesn't really believe in anything any more and a faith which doesn't make any moral demands. I sometimes suspect that what is being asked for is a Church which dispenses spirituality, affirmation and pretty ceremonies without upsetting anyone by actually preaching the Gospel. That's not the kind of humility we need. Reading about the abuse, one has to wonder whether the men who did had any kind of belief in Christ or judgement or perdition or charity or kindness?
I think we need to look towards the holy and zealous humility of St Francis of Assisi and St John Vianney. We clergy have a particular responsibility within the Church. We need to be humble before the teaching of the Church and do our best to teach it by word and example. We need to believe and preach more fervently. We need to cleave more firmly to the Truth who is Christ. Our humility can't be a going quietly into the night, but a growing submission to the demands of our priesthood. "Holiness rather than peace, " as Newman used to say. The unholiness uncovered by the Dublin Report can only be atoned for by a holy humility. That holy humility must also include a burning zeal for justice. The laxity which led senior clerics to hurt so many people by not dealing firmly and aggressively with abuse can never be repeated. We mustn't be afraid to hold ourselves to the highest standards of probity in all matters. We should not resent the idea of bishops having a bit of spine in dealing with priests who step out of line.
Continuing to be a Priest
Despite the report, I'm still happy to be a priest. Indeed, because it's a fair and just report, I'm somewhat relieved that it's finally out there. Anyone who's been following the news for the past few years would have known what kind of horrors were going to be published, and no one within the Church can object to an uncovering of the truth an a fair judgement. Having read the report, I know that what's in it has made it much more difficult to be a priest in Ireland. However, it's also made it so very clear how much the Church and the World need Christ. He is the only one who can bring healing, reconciliation, liberation and salvation. If I didn't believe that, I'd be as well off hanging up my collar. That's not to say that I can proffer Him as an easy answer. Using Him as a glib slogan is not an option. That path toward healing isn't going to be an easy one for our society and it's not at all clear how it's going to come about. It's going to place huge demands on all sincere Catholics, and on clergy in particular. There may be times when it may seem as though the game mightn't be worth the candle, but as we approach the end of one Church year and face into the hopeful penitence of Advent, we should remind ourselves that He is with us always, even until the end of time.

(Incidentally, Seraphic posts with her usual common sense and compassion.)

Spe Salvi - Random Observation No. 3

There's a passage at the end of paragraph 33 which expresses very clearly the demand that the encounter with God places on the Christian conscience:

We must learn to purify our desires and our hopes. We must free ourselves from the hidden lies with which we deceive ourselves. God sees through them, and when we come before God, we too are forced to recognize them. “But who can discern his errors? Clear me from hidden faults” prays the Psalmist (Ps 19:12 [18:13]). Failure to recognize my guilt, the illusion of my innocence, does not justify me and does not save me, because I am culpable for the numbness of my conscience and my incapacity to recognize the evil in me for what it is. If God does not exist, perhaps I have to seek refuge in these lies, because there is no one who can forgive me; no one who is the true criterion. Yet my encounter with God awakens my conscience in such a way that it no longer aims at self-justification, and is no longer a mere reflection of me and those of my contemporaries who shape my thinking, but it becomes a capacity for listening to the Good itself.

Certainly, ignorance does mitigate personal responsibility and culpability, but one sees in some circles the idea that 'being pastoral' means not pointing out some of the sinfulness present in this world. The theory is that if the faithful are not presented with the fullness of Christian morality, then God will not hold them responsible for sins committed in ignorance.
I've never been happy with that horribly nominalistic argument as it presents a misleading view of God and of the Christian life. Cultivating a dulled conscience amongst the faithful is depriving them of an encounter with the living God who wants only what is good for them. Living according to a distorted picture of 'the good' will inevitably obscure the vision of the God who is Good. Denying the existence of sin is a denial of the God who redeems us from sin. A lively conscience is the sine qua non of the adult Christian life.