Betrayers

Dost thou betray the Son of man with a kiss?

“As he was yet speaking, behold a multitude; and he that was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them and drew near to Jesus, for to kiss him.  And Jesus said to him: Judas dost thou betray the Son of man with a kiss?”  (Luke 22:47-48 DRB)

“And he said to his disciples: It is impossible that scandals should not come. But woe to him through whom they come! It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck and he cast into the sea, than that he should scandalize one of these little ones.” (Luke 17:1-2 DRB)

BETRAYAL!  

Betrayal is the coward’s path – it comes from a weakness, a lack of backbone, a desire for an easier path. At its core, betrayal is a selling out – knowingly and willingly exchanging something of greater value for something of lesser value for one’s own personal gain – for example, exchanging the Son of God for 30 pieces of silver. Betrayal is a participation in evil, as it turns one from a selfless love ordered towards the good of others, to a selfish desire which disregards others and elevates the betrayer above all else. Betrayal despises what is good. 

In Dante’s Inferno, the author places betrayal at the frozen center of hell. Instead of fire, he envisions betrayal as ice – a place where there is complete lack of fidelity, love, and warmth – with the devil sitting in the very center as the greatest traitor in history.

Judas, likewise, is the ultimate human betrayer.  He betrayed Our Lord, and he did so with a kiss.  What pain this must have caused Christ Jesus who loved him so much! The overwhelming consensus throughout the past two millennia is that Judas has been, is, and ever will be among the damned because of his betrayal and then his failure to repent of that betrayal prior to taking his own life. Jesus pronounced judgment on him: “But woe to that man by whom the Son of man shall be betrayed. It were better for him, if that man had not been born.” (Matthew 26:24 DRB).

Judas was one of the twelve – he had an intimate relationship with Our Lord Jesus Christ. But that is the essence of his betrayal – he sold out the One who knew him most intimately and who loved him more deeply than any other.  Judas rejected the faithful, selfless, and life-giving love of Christ for a meager financial reward.  And sadly, this betrayal of Our Lord continues even today. Nowhere is this more clearly seen than in the betrayal of so many in the hierarchy of Our Lord’s Church.

Over the past century, the Catholic Church has been quietly but methodically infiltrated, and this attack has resulted in decades of weak, compromised, and silent clergy – betrayers.  Have you noticed that we are in the time of the silent shepherds – for never a word do they speak. For many, their betrayal is in the form of silent apathy, as it seems there is nothing that they love enough to cause them to act – or nothing that they love enough that will cause them to call out or to attempt to stop the betrayal.

We can clearly see the fingerprints of Satan in the massive betrayal of the Lord and His Church in the sex abuse crisis that has so rocked the Church since at least the early 2000’s. Perhaps nowhere was betrayal in the form of protecting and promoting abusers more evident than in the case of former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick.  His story is an example of betrayal on an unprecedented scale. Those in positions of power in the hierarchy of the Church were living the high life, abusing seminarians, and paying hush money.  It is now evident that the Vatican began receiving reports about McCarrick and his unusual interest in seminarians and his predatory behavior as early as the 1990’s.  However, those who could have put a stop to this evil turned a blind eye, and McCarrick continued to abuse more victims while at the same time rising to positions of greater and greater authority in the Church.

Decades have passed and yet little has changed. In fact, we are now living under a papacy in which abusive clerics not only flourish but are often rewarded and even celebrated. In fact, there are many cases of priests who still remain in ministry today even though they have committed gravely immoral acts – priests such as Marko Rupnik, a Jesuit who was expelled from the order after decades of sexual abuse against women religious. Rupnik has been accused of sexually abusing some 30 religious sisters.  However, he is currently still an active priest (now incardinated into the Diocese of Koper, Slovenia following his dismissal from the Jesuits), and he is living and working in Rome as the director of art and dean of theology at Centro Aletti.

Some of the horrific and sacrilegious allegations against Rupnik include incidents of sexual abuse which reportedly occurred while he was designing and creating works of art, and yet his works of art still adorn some of the most holy and reverent locations throughout the Church, such as the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception at Lourdes, France – a place of healing and faith that should bring honor to our Blessed Mother.  This art remains even though at least five women who claim to have been abused by Rupnik, and whose claims the Jesuits ruled were credible, sent letters to Catholic bishops around the world asking that Rupnik’s artwork be removed from these churches and shrines. Instead, the Vatican’s top communications official defended using the images and insisted that they caused no harm to the victims. It is disheartening to know that Rupnik is just one example of many “betrayers” who continue to receive the full protection of the Vatican while many other faithful priests, bishops, and cardinals are silenced, canceled, and removed.

And what about the betrayal of heresy? There is widespread betrayal going on in the Church right now as Catholic teachings and Catholic doctrine are pushed aside to make room for the teachings of the world. One such betrayal is in regard to homosexuality. Homosexuality has become “the elephant in the room” in the Church today.  Although we rightly recognize that as faithful Catholics, we must always love our neighbor (which of course includes those with same-sex attraction), the Catholic Church teaches that homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered and are always violations of divine and natural law.  Therefore, we must be clear that it is never permissible to participate in these acts, and clergy should never mislead their flocks by condoning such acts or minimizing their grave nature.  Instead, we must always call people away from sin and towards Christ, and to the forgiveness that He offers through repentance and conversion.  However, we now have a situation where many in high positions in the Church celebrate and even glorify this lifestyle which leads souls away from Christ. The editor-at-large of the Jesuit magazine America, Fr James Martin, an advocate of this perversion, is one of the most prominent spokesmen in the Church today, and he is often solicited as a consultant to the Vatican. The document Fiducia Supplicans greatly added to the confusion by opening the door to potential blessings of homosexual relationships, an outcome unthinkable even 50 years ago. This document has been an open invitation to the devil to go after souls who are confused by a Church in which many clergy no longer remain anchored to the Sacred Deposit of Faith, but who instead seek to modernize teachings to appease modern ears.

And in the midst of this climate of betrayal, the 10^th National Eucharistic Congress is beginning in Indianapolis, Indiana, at a cost of about $14 million. As Catholics, we know that the Eucharist is the center of Catholic life because the Eucharist is nothing less than Jesus Christ Himself. Our Lord is present – body and blood, soul and divinity – in the Holy Eucharist. Jesus did not leave the apostles with only a book or some vague assurances of His help – He left them, and us, with Himself! He gathered them together and transformed ordinary bread and ordinary wine into his divine, glorified body and blood, made present in every Holy Mass. His words, “This is my body … This is my blood … Do this in remembrance of me” were His confirmation to them that this was to continue in perpetuity, and He would remain with them always. And so we have His assurance that the Eucharist we celebrate today is the same Jesus who broke bread that night with His apostles, and He is still fully present among us at every Holy Mass. The loss of Eucharistic faith in the Church has been epidemic and indeed devastating to our Catholic faith; therefore, a Eucharistic Congress is a good thing.

But still, I wonder … when priests who are guilty of grievous acts of immorality are still allowed to celebrate Mass and hold the sacred Eucharist in their hands … does Christ say to them …. “Judas dost thou betray the Son of man with a kiss?”  (Luke 22:47 DRB)

Perhaps what concerns me most in these days of confusion and betrayal is that I fear time is running out, and that we are fast approaching a time when the cord of Mercy may be withdrawn from Heaven, and in its place, the rope of Justice shall swiftly descend. It is imperative that in this time we prepare ourselves with frequent confessions, frequent Mass and reception of Holy Eucharist, and frequent charity to others so we may be found greeting Our Lord Jesus with a kiss of love, not a kiss of betrayal.  

“And he said to his disciples: It is impossible that scandals should not come. But woe to him through whom they come! It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck and he cast into the sea, than that he should scandalize one of these little ones.” (Luke 17:1-2 DRB)

May Our Lord continue to bless you and may Our Blessed Mother intercede always for you and lead you always to her Eternal Son.

Bishop Joseph E. Strickland

Bishop Emeritus