Francis 1 brings scandal to the Church

When I attended Catholic schools, grammar and high school, I learned a fair amount of Catholic theology.  One thing that I learned is that "scandal" in Catholic terms is a grave sin against God:

Scandal takes on a particular gravity by reason of the authority of those who cause it or the weakness of those who are scandalized.  It prompted our Lord to utter this curse:  "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened round his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea."  Scandal is particularly grave when given by those who by nature or office are obliged to teach and educate others.  Jesus reproached the scribes and Pharisees on this account, likening them to wolves in sheep's clothing.

Francis 1 in his recent visit to the United States gave scandal in two ways.  The first, when he praised the bishops in the United States for their handling of the sexual abuse issue.  Later, he tried to justify what he had said, but to praise the same men who were responsible for the ongoing abuse by transferring priests to other parishes after it was known that these same priests had abused young boys and girls is "scandal" of the worst sort.  What worse sin can a man of God commit than to abuse children, the majority of whom were boys. The irony, of course, is the Church in its current teaching is against all homosexual acts committed by adults, yet by its actions excuses the same acts by its priests with young boys.  Perhaps Francis was thinking of himself while a bishop in Argentina when he refused to meet with those who had been abused by priests.  Perhaps he himself transferred such priests from parish to parish where they continued to abuse children.

The second is the audience he gave to Kim Davis.  Davis has been married four times, had two children out of wedlock, and is not a Catholic.  For Francis to have given this woman a private audience, as she now claims, is also a scandal.  Francis seems to be telling the world that so long as you are against gay men and women marrying, that is more important than respecting the institute of marriage.  Divorced Catholics, even those who don't remarry and remain celibate, are not permitted to receive communion but Kim Davis is given a special audience with Francis.  He has in effect declared that some sins are worst than others, that having children out of wedlock and that multiple marriages are not as grave as two people of the same sex marrying, and thereby consecrating their love for one another.

I often wonder how Republicans can call themselves Christians, which the majority of them do, because of their stands against helping the poor, against immigration, and their support of executions.  How is this Christian I ask myself.  And how is Francis a Christian when he supports someone like Kim Davis but not members of his own Catholic flock.

What gets me so angry about the story of Davis and Francis meeting is that I know if my own mother, perhaps the best Christian and Catholic I've known in my life, would not have been given a private audience with Francis if she had asked for one.  She's dead now for more than a decade but she, like so many Catholic women, followed the dictates of the Church to the letter, and in Francis's meeting with Kim Davis he showed his contempt for Catholic women.  A pox on him and his house.