I don’t believe that the main reason that Christianity is collapsing in America is because of church scandals. It has much more to do with broader and deeper trends in modernity — with science, with capitalism, with technology, with the Sexual Revolution. But the churches have hurt themselves tremendously with their sex scandals. A Protestant friend who has been having to deal with this in his denomination told me it is taking a tremendous toll on him. You should know that just because you don’t see it reported in the media, there’s still a lotgoing on on the scandal front.
Today the Washington Post reports that seven more men are claiming that they were molested by former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick as boys — and that these claims are known to the Vatican. In fact, these boys — now men — testified in the Vatican’s own investigation of McCarrick, and in law enforcement’s investigation. One of those boys, whose identity the Post is withholding, per its policy, has written an anonymous essay online, called “Essay For The Faithful.” You should read it. He talks about how Uncle Ted was covered in Teflon:
By the time then-Cardinal McCarrick stepped in front of the cameras and microphones in 2002 as the face of the U.S. Catholic Church’s response to the sexual abuse crisis, he had already completed a personal campaign of predatory sexual abuse of minors and young adult males that stretched back across four decades. While the national media waxed poetic about this charming and charismatic Cardinal with a twinkle in his eye, they had no idea that McCarrick was using them to send a powerful message to his countless victims that he was untouchable and in complete control. Can you really blame any of us for believing him?
Read more at the American Conservative