John Gravino

Confronting the Pope of Suspicion John Gravino

Pope emeritus Benedict was exactly right when he blamed the sexual abuse scandal of the Church on the sexual revolution. Priests and theologians embraced the psychological ideas behind the sexual revolution, but many of these ideas clashed with traditional theology. So theology was thrown out, and a new "I'm okay, you're okay" philosophy was what seminarians were taught in their religion classes. These new ideas rejected Christian morality in favor of a relativism that encouraged sexual indulgence and experimentation. Seminarians were no longer taught to be chaste and celibate because it was now believed that these ancient traditions were psychologically damaging. Sexual liberation promised greater happiness, freedom, and mental health according to the new psychology. But like the promises of a certain ancient serpent, the promises of humanistic psychology would prove to be empty and false. The new philosophy of freedom that promised so much in terms of personal growth and fulfillment took a very dark turn. And it led to one of the darkest chapters in Church history. In Confronting the Pope of Suspicion, John Gravino documents how the new ideas of humanistic psychology, far from leading to the promised land of self-actualization, drove humanity instead into the wasteland of criminal sexual abuse. Is Pope Francis the shepherd to lead us out of the wasteland? Hardly-for he promotes the very heresies that brought us to this dark valley in the first place.