By Fr. Ronald Lemmert
I once visited friends at an Army base where the chapel had a problem with bats. Every evening, bats could be seen flying around the chapel, which was quite annoying to the parishioners. This went on for quite some time, causing lots of complaints. One day, some of the men decided to take a look in the belfry to see if the bats were living up there. When they opened the trap door in the ceiling of the vestibule, an avalanche of bat guano cascaded down all over them. The problem had been going on for years for all of that guano to accumulate, and it was a serious hazard to everyone’s health. But until they investigated, no one had any idea of the enormity of the problem.
I have long thought of that story as being symbolic of the state of the Church. We have all been aware of various kinds of pesky “bats” flying around throughout the centuries. People complained about the “bats”, but until fairly recently we had no idea where they were coming from or of the true nature of the problem. Since the sex abuse crisis started to become public knowledge in Lafayette, LA an avalanche of “guano” has begun pouring out of the belfry, poisoning everyone in the whole Church. It’s a horrible mess, but at least now we know what we are dealing with, and now we can start cleaning up the mess.
I have long thought of that story as being symbolic of the state of the Church. We have all been aware of various kinds of pesky “bats” flying around throughout the centuries. People complained about the “bats”, but until fairly recently we had no idea where they were coming from or of the true nature of the problem. Since the sex abuse crisis started to become public knowledge in Lafayette, LA an avalanche of “guano” has begun pouring out of the belfry, poisoning everyone in the whole Church. It’s a horrible mess, but at least now we know what we are dealing with, and now we can start cleaning up the mess.
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