As I mentioned in a previous blog, Joe and I spent two weeks in Europe celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary. Touring beautiful old churches listening to “church history” consumed many hours, often unsettling. The horrific past lives and debauchery of certain church leaders and government officials were part of the historical mosaic that lay beneath beautiful Gothic cathedrals, such as St. Vitus in Prague. Violence, terror, illicit relationships and retribution were story lines behind the grandiose. Guilt at its best! Hustling and bustling in Prague and Krakow, many nuns, priests, and monks, dressed in traditional garb, raced across the town squares eager to do the “Lord’s work”. I sat in Prague sipping a Czech beer wondering just how far had we really come. Merely the sight of the old religious habit gave my stomach that old familiar squeeze of guilt and brought back the dark feelings I experienced during my “nun years”. While still piecing together some of the unflattering stories of church history and wondering about the Church today, I was shocked by the lead teaser on CNN. Back in the hotel, CNN blared their lead story that they had just uncovered how years ago the Catholic Church in Spain had been selling babies for adoption using baptismal certificates rather than birth certificates. The reporters interviewed many victims trying to find their real identity and finally realizing that they had bloodline families alive that had been searching for them for years. The tiredness of the day’s sight seeing gave way to my frazzled mind in bewilderment, “will this abuse never end?” I took a deep breath and found comfort in recalling Secret #1: Don’t let religion get in the way of your relationship with God.
