In the year 1137, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the reign of King Stephen descended into such bloody chaos that “men said openly that Christ and his saints slept”.
It is not much of an exaggeration to suggest that a similar thought occurred to many Catholics in 2018 – at least, those who have followed the international media’s lazy and inadequate coverage of the crisis in the Church.
We hope our readers will forgive us if we point out yet again the gravity of that crisis. References to the sexual scandals and episcopal backstabbing of 2018 do not make for spiritually uplifting reading. But they will at least prepare Catholics for the inevitable misery of 2019, as American dioceses – which are a major source of Vatican income – topple into bankruptcy.
