Catholic Church is under attack: what can we do?

Our Church is under attack, what can we ordinary Catholics do? First it was the pedophile crises, in America, then we found out these crimes also took place overseas. And discoveries are ongoing... Now the Vatican Bank is being accused of impropriety. What will be next?

These few lines are not written in order to justify the crimes committed in any way. They are written out of concern. How are we ordinary Catholics going to hold together in this atmosphere of accusations? And how widespread are all these crimes? What can we do?

WE CAN PRAY! Jesus did not condone or permit these crimes, and certainly, when he founded the Church, when He told Peter, "on this rock you will build My Church!" He did not envision a Church consisting of pedophiles and thieves. We should ask Him for general forgiveness and for his assistance in turning souls around, back to Him.

I haven't seen the upcoming TV show yet, on one of our major media outlets, "What the Pope Knew" (or similar wording), and I dread the accusations that will come from such shows. Much of the time, there are vast inaccuracies in such presentations. All in all, our Church is getting a very bad name at someone's expense. That is not to say that some of this bad name is undeserved, but falsehoods and suppositions aren't going to help either.

Let us turn to the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, the Queen of the Angels, and ask her for her special help. We pray to her for intercession, especially in the month of October, which is traditionally dedicated to the Holy Rosary.

Here's the oldest prayer to the Blessed Virgin Mary, known in Latin as "Sub tuum Praesidium," first found in a Greek papyrus, c. 300

"We turn to you for protection,
Holy Mother of God.
Listen to our prayers
and help us in our needs.
Save us from every danger,
glorious and blessed Virgin."

Let us ask for Mary's protection over the Catholic Church, that we may weather this storm of accusations. Let us ask her to renew the Church, repair the Church, and keep us on the right path, to allow us to be with Mary's Son Jesus in Paradise for eternity.

Fred Schaeffer, SFO
9/22/2010

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