The Ravi Fiasco

I’m sure by now, most people have at least some idea of what has happened with Ravi Zacharias.  The late Ravi’s organization RZIM has completed their report on the allegations against Ravi.  They are more than credible.  The Evangelical world, particularly the American Evangelical world is in a shattered state.  They’re angry, sad, confused and heartbroken.

I’m not an American, nor an Evangelical but I want to weigh in.  I never really followed Ravi that much.  I don’t own any of his books and although I’m a Catholic, I have many Protestant books in my library.  I didn’t really watch him on YouTube, though occasionally someone would send me a short clip.  Usually the clip had a lot of wisdom.

The most recent Catholic fiasco similar in nature was that of Fr. Marciel Maciel, the founder of the Legionaries of Christ who lived a double life, possibly even worse than that of Ravi.  He was especially close to Pope John Paul II and in 2014 when John Paul II was up for canonization, opponents of the canonization pointed to Fr. Maciel.  How much did Pope John Paul II know?  If I had to guess he at least knew a bit, if not a good deal.  This is true of both John Paul II and the entire Curia, though I must confess I can’t prove this.  Why did they choose to look the other way?  Money.

Fr. Maciel was an elite fundraiser.  There were certainly reasons to overlook his sins for the amount of cash he got for the Vatican.  Ravi was similar as RZIM had a lot of money.  What can we take away from the whole Ravi situation?  Or how about Fr. Maciel?

Well, when money is involved, things get messy.  Money makes the world go around.  What was the purpose of colonialism?  Money.  You don’t go across the world to make colonies if they’re not going to bring you gold, silver, precious metals and resources.  Of course with colonialism the Church was allowed to send missionaries but at times they usually had a double job.  One was to spread the faith and the other was trying to protect the locals from the conquistadors.  In 1537, Pope Paul III issued Sublimus Dei.  In it he wrote:

We define and declare by these Our letters, or by any translation thereof signed by any notary public and sealed with the seal of any ecclesiastical dignitary, to which the same credit shall be given as to the originals, that, notwithstanding whatever may have been or may be said to the contrary, the said Indians and all other people who may later be discovered by Christians, are by no means to be deprived of their liberty or the possession of their property, even though they be outside the faith of Jesus Christ; and that they may and should, freely and legitimately, enjoy their liberty and the possession of their property; nor should they be in any way enslaved; should the contrary happen, it shall be null and have no effect.

This had some effect but not a lot.  Gone were the days where the Pope could command monarchs.  The monarchs and conquistadors were controlled by something else.  Money.  Money is the same thing that caused Henry VIII, the Swiss city government, the Scandinavian monarchs, and the German princes to chuck Catholicism for Protestantism.  If Catholicism was banned, all of the monasteries, guilds, chantries, and endowments could be confiscated.  Again, money is the key.

It’s not a sin to have money, but it is a sin to use it for evil or attain it by evil means.  I pray that if I have more money than I do now, that I use it for the glory of God and not to engage in sin, even if it’s private sin.

I want to wish a Happy Valentine’s Day to all the happy couples out there.  I also want to extend my prayers to all those who are still patiently waiting to find their soulmate.