• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
        • Official Clergy Assignments
        • Schools News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Question Corner
          • George Weigel
          • Effie Caldarola
          • John Garvey
          • Father Ed Dougherty, M.M.
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Robyn Barberry
          • Hanael Bianchi
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • CR Media platforms
        • Electronic Edition
  • Advertising
  • Shop
        • Purchase Photos
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
  • CR Radio
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe

The truth hurts

August 15, 2018
By Rita Buettner
Filed Under: Blog, Child & Youth Protection, Open Window

Sometimes people do terrible things. They hurt people deeply. They hurt children. They let down people who look up to them, people who trust them. They lie about what they do, and sometimes they tell the people they are hurting to lie, too.They get away with doing those terrible things. And no one except their victims knows what they’ve done—maybe not ever, maybe not for years. Or maybe some people do know, but they don’t act on that knowledge. They hurt people, too.

Then one day the truth finally comes to light. And it’s horrible and dark and complicated. And, though there is relief in knowing the truth, it also brings with it so, so much pain. Betrayal. Anger.

Under the weight of the news of the sexual abuse scandals in the Catholic Church, it isn’t easy to see any light in the darkness. We can pray for justice and for healing and for a better future. We can try to support and advocate for victims. We can put in place policies and laws to bring about change. We should do all of that and more.

The gut instinct might be to run away from the whole problem—and maybe even the Church itself. This kind of news shakes a person’s faith in humanity, never mind in an institution. We want to believe that people are good, especially those who are people of faith, especially people who are leading our church.

Of course, the Catholic Church is more than this scandal. I say that not in defense of anyone or anything. But as saddened and confused and angry as I am by individuals, I cannot turn my back on the Church as I know it, the one Jesus founded, the one He wants to spread love and hope to all the world. As flawed as people are, the Church is still where I can be closest to Jesus.

It’s true that I can find Jesus in a thousand different ways every day. But I can only encounter Him most personally, most intimately in the Eucharist. I cannot imagine life without the Eucharist, without that mystery in which I get to take a piece of Jesus into myself and become, I hope and pray, just a little more like Him. And I can only receive Jesus in the Eucharist consecrated on the altar in the celebration of the Mass.

Still, the pain of this news is raw and real. The confusion, the sadness, the anger, the frustration, is oppressive. So I’m going to have to do what I do with any other burden I cannot carry alone.

I’m trying to turn it over to God, to ask Him to help carry it. Today I have been thinking that the grand jury report is new to me, but not to our Father in Heaven. He has known the truth. He has already been grieving and hurting with the victims and with those of us who are just realizing the extent of the abuse.

God, I have to remember, is bigger than all of this.

And, in the midst of the confusion, I also find myself running to my mother, Mary. Because she understands suffering—and watching those you care about suffer. As our mother, she also knows each of us. And she knows just what we need in this moment, whatever that may be.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Print Print

Primary Sidebar

Rita Buettner

Rita Buettner is a wife, working mother and author of the Catholic Review's Open Window blog. She and her husband adopted their two sons from China, and Rita often writes about topics concerning adoption, family and faith.

Rita also writes The Domestic Church, a featured column in the Catholic Review. Her writing has been honored by the Catholic Press Association, the Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Press Association and the Associated Church Press.

View all posts from this author

| Recent Commentary |

Question Corner: Jesus became man so I could become God?

The mental health crisis crosses all boundaries and ages

Hold the tuna casserole; pass the crab cake this Lent

Question Corner: Do we relax our Lenten fasts on Sunday?

Pope Francis: 10 titles for 10 years

| Recent Local News |

Sister Elizabeth Ellen Kane, O.S.F., dies at 81

RADIO INTERVIEW: Dining with the Saints

Archdiocese dispenses with meatless obligation for St. Patrick’s Day

Sister Mary Kathleen Marie Saffa dies at 86

Trainor to retire from post as Mount St. Mary’s president in 2024

| Catholic Review Radio |

CatholicReview · Catholic Review Radio

Footer

Our Vision

Real Life. Real Faith. 

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • Legendary communist-era priest, Father Blachnicki, was murdered, Polish authorities confirm
  • Do not be afraid to be a witness to God’s love, pope says
  • Question Corner: Jesus became man so I could become God?
  • Papa: Acoger a migrantes y refugiados es el primer paso hacia la paz
  • Sister Elizabeth Ellen Kane, O.S.F., dies at 81
  • Welcoming migrants, refugees is first step toward peace, pope says
  • RADIO INTERVIEW: Dining with the Saints
  • Good politics brings people together, generates care for others, pope says
  • Wyoming becomes first state to ban abortion pills

Search

Membership

Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2023 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED