People who live in glass houses should not throw stones (English proverb)

I have read some very hard comments on certain Russian friends’ sites about the moral situation in the Roman Catholic church. The obvious reference is to the paedophilia scandals in various countries, most recently in Belgium where I live.

The facts are there and cannot be denied.

But please, fellow-Orthodox friends in Russia and elsewhere, do not use this as an excuse for Catholic-bashing. For three reasons:

First and foremost because there is no church of any size on God’s earth that does not have dirty linen. The evil one wants to weaken from within – everywhere – and goes for the weak spots. If I was C.S. Lewis’s Screwtape sending young Wormwood (the junior devil) to do damage to the ROC, I would advise against the homosexuality/ paedophilia route. There are better ways of causing damage in Moscow, Arkhangelst or Vladivostok. I will not list them: I am sure my Russian blog-readers could advise Wormwood better than I. That being said, the MP’s slowness to react to the case of a flagrantly gay, bullying bishop ten years ago - I gather he is still on the scene as a bishop in Moscow - contrasts starkly with the promptness with which Bp Vangheluwe of Bruges was put out of action earlier this year.

Second: if pointing to the sins of others is the only way we have of demonstrating our own goodness, we are in very bad way. Remember the fate of the Pharisee who proudly defined himself in front of the Lord by someone else’s shortcomings.

Third, because the RC Church seems to be doing, in my view, a fairly good job of clearing up the mess. The only way, ultimately, that you can judge a church - if judge you must – is on the present, where it is right now, not on the past.