UNITED STATES
Catholic Exchange
KEVIN O’BRIEN
I have always hated the word “Detachment” and suspected that this virtue is misunderstood in Catholic circles, even though Catholic Exchange has a very solid article on it by Fr. Bob Camuso, a tremendously insightful article by Roman Guardini, and a view on Detachment as seen through the novels of C.S. Lewis by Jessica Archuleta.
Still, there always seemed to me something inhuman about “Detachment”, especially since some of the more austere saints have insisted that it includes a kind of stoic distancing even from family and friends and people that we love. And even if these saints are right, so much of Devout Catholic emphasis these days is on rejecting the more natural side of love, the love of desire which seeks attachment (Eros), in favor of the more unnatural side of love, the love of self-denial and abnegation for the sake of the beloved (Agape), that this emphasis sometimes plays havoc with the common sense and spiritual development of these same Devout Catholics. And yet not only are both aspects of love part of a unified whole, love is not fully love without both Eros and Agape, according to Pope Benedict XVI in his encyclical Deus Caritas Est. Love that is merely detached can become clinical and objectifying; love that is merely attached can become clinging and possessive.
So what does this do to “Spiritual Detachment”? Everything, I think. For if we see Spiritual Detachment from the point of view of love, it begins to make sense. …
The most egregious example of failing to love with a proper perspective, of failing to make the sacrifices required of Christian of love, of failure to put First Love First, is the Sex Abuse Scandal within the Catholic Church. A church that prioritizes fundraising, corporatism, and public relations over the very safety of innocent children is a church that no sane person would trust, for it is a church that appears not to be able to make even the simplest and most obvious of sacrifices to serve its most vulnerable members. Attachment to children requires Detachment from those who harm them — removing problem priests and not hushing their crimes up and reshuffling them — a Detachment that some administrators, both in the religious and secular worlds, have been unwilling to make.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.