89: Dear Troubled Catholics—Dr. Ralph Martin

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The Grand Jury Report, released on August 14, destroyed any residual belief that the “long Lent of 2002” was somehow “a thing of the past.” It is devastating, and essentially concludes that the Catholic Church is a criminal syndicate that exists to protect the predators who lead it. This on the heels of the Theodore “Uncle Ted” McCarrick scandal, and the Chilean bishop scandal (badly botched by Pope Francis), the collosal problem of homosexual corruption in Nicaragua under Cardinal Maradiaga, and sundry financial malfeasance.

Catholics everywhere are disgusted, demoralized, and prone to feelings of despair.

Enter Dr. Ralph Martin with a prescription of hope. He wrote a perceptive and, I believe, prophetic, Letter to fellow troubled Catholics in the newsletter put out by Renewal Ministries, of which he is the president. What is needed—badly—is a sense of perspective and hope. Not “optimism,” not “moving forward,” and certainly not “lamenting the tragedy.”

It’s not a tragedy. It’s a series of sexual crimes and sins that cry to heaven for vengeance. Where is the Lord Jesus in all this? Ralph Martin, seminary professor, writer, and TV/Radio host, and longtime renewal leader, cuts to the quick.

 

In this episode you will learn:

• How to frame the scandal in its historical context
• What the scandal is really about (hint: it’s not “pedophile priests”)
• The need to double-down on prayer and fasting for the Church
• Why we need to stop “protecting the Church’s image”
• Why this crisis resembles the way God punished faithless Israel
• The main reason for hope as we survey the wreckage

 

Resources recommended in this episode:

Dear Troubled Catholics letter from Ralph Martin

The Fulfillment of All Desire by Ralph Martin

Crisis of Truth: The Attack on Faith, Morality and Mission in the Catholic Church by Ralph Martin

 

Question of the week

Has this series of scandals led you to deepen your relationship with Christ? If not, why not?

 

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