A Catholic is bound to view every act of apostasy or schism as spiritual suicide, a choice against life. This characterisation is borne out by three recent columns written by Catholics who have left the Church over the sex abuse scandals. None of the authors proposes any higher, truer teaching than the Catholic faith. None anticipates a happier tomorrow. Each column is, in its way, a cry of despair.
Melinda Henneberger, a journalist who knew and admired Archbishop Theodore McCarrick, has announced that she is leaving the Church – without a clear idea of what comes next: “I’m not even sure there’s such a thing as a former Catholic, but I’m about to find out.” Melinda Selmys, a blogger at Patheos, has decided that by remaining Catholic she was “enabling the abusive people who were using the name of God to promulgate a doctrine that was a lot more draconian than what I seemed to believe.” Damon Linker, a columnist at The Week, has resolved to leave behind the “unbearable ugliness of the Catholic Church”.
