The Cloak of

Endings are always abrupt.

Sometimes, however, they are so totally unexpected that they take your breath away.

And so it is, as the era of the respected and coveted Red Hats comes to a distinct end.

Our beloved Church will survive the flames of hidden truth that have emerged in the last few weeks and finally escalated this past weekend because most Catholics will “Keep the Faith.”

However, It is impossible today even for a devout lifetime Catholic to pretend the news is merely an ugly rumor or myth or fairy tale. The statistical fact of sixty million dollars being paid in the past two years to sexual violence victims while desperately needed Catholic schools are being closed is just one chilling financial reality, and cannot be ignored.

That is only one statistic that has recently been confirmed. How many others have been hidden under the cover of the powerful Red Hats?

As the shocking news continues to pour in not only from dioceses we are familiar with, but also from remote foreign countries we have yet to visit, it is akin to a tsunami of shame. And perhaps the clergy are not alone in this guilt.

Too many educated American Catholics have refused to acknowledge the symptoms of the growing blanket of scandal enveloping not our doctrines, but the escalating power and political strength of the Bishops and Cardinals of the Catholic Church. Their collective culpability and knowledge of sexual abuse cannot be ignored.

I doubt if there is anyone within our circle of acquaintances, friends or even family, who has not at one time heard of an “incident” involving a clergyman and young child. How often have we shrugged it off, not totally unbelieving, but also, unwilling to acknowledge its validity. The accusations were widespread and ugly and criminal, and have gone on for decades, possibly longer, in many parishes where we worshipped.

Now there can be no more deceit, not only on the part of the liturgical hierarchy, but the body of believers. Part of the solution will be in our hands as American Catholic because we remain part of the problem unless we demand accountability.

If we do, it will mark the final season for the coveted influence of the Red Hats. If we don’t, the responsibility then belongs to us, and we must also share their cloak of shame. This current horror far outranks that of the infamous Children’s Crusade, and because we love our Church it can no longer can be denied.