On December 14, 2009, Internet news sites published the following news: Eight married couples from Salzkotten, Germany decided not to send their children to sex-education classes that are compulsory in that country’s schools. As a result, first they were ordered to pay large fines, and finally they were sentenced to prison... The President of the International Christian Institution “Human Rights Group,” that is defending these families, has declared that the German authorities, ‘consider that the children belong to the state, at least while they are in school.’( Infocatólica webpage, December 14, 2009.) The commentator, Pérez Bustamante, in his blog Cor ad cor loquitor, made the following remarks about this news: It seems unbelievable that a country that suffered the Nazis and the Communists would once again commit the same sin. I would emigrate before staying in such a country. And it is unbelievable that the German Catholic bishops look the other way, for, to this day, we still have not heard that any Bishop has come out in support of these families; and the same may be said about the official Lutheran Evangelical church. Perhaps they fear that the State will decide to take away the religious tax and leave them without financing. But I would prefer a thousand times more a poor Church, faithful to its mission, over a rich Church imbued with the spirit of Judas Iscariot.

            Fear is always present. Fear of opposing Power; of losing financing; of not being considered by those who decide who gets promoted...; perhaps of being called conservative or reactionary or an enemy of dialogue, alien to the spirit of the Council, etc. And there may be other reasons like fear of the so-called scientific developments, of scriptural hermeneutics, of historiography, of the fluctuations in Politics and the balance of Power;... fear of so many other things.

            In the end, the inferiority complex of the Shepherds of the Church (from Cardinals to the small parish priest) may be summarized in one word: cowardice; a term which, applied to this case, does not cease to be true, even if it is unpleasant to hear. For, meanwhile, the sheep of the Flock of Christ are deprived of good pastures, on one hand, and on the other, are abandoned to the dangers of the wolves that disperse them and devour them.

            If someone asks the reason for such events, there is a response. And this response is certain and sure because it comes from Jesus Christ himself: A hired man, who is not a shepherd and whose own the sheep are not, sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away, and the wolf scatters and catches them.  This is because he works for pay and has no concern for the sheep.[1] The importance of the content of this statement becomes clearer if we analyze its parts:

a)    : He acts like this who is not the shepherd.

b)    : Because he is not a shepherd, the sheep do not belong to him.

c)     : He flees when the wolf comes because he is a coward and he only cares about his own life.

d)    : He is a hired man: that is, he will only fulfill his duties for material interest and seeking his own gain, normally money and power.

e)    In the last analysis, he does not care about the sheep.

These statements may seem harsh, but we must not forget that these words were pronounced literally by Jesus Christ Himself.

Once we admit that one of the roots that feeds the inferiority complex is cowardice, as it seems to be, it is convenient to remember the words of the Apocalypse about the destiny in store for those who, for whatever reason, neglect to fulfill their duty –which is even more true when we are talking of duties that have to do with the saving of souls: But as for cowards, the unfaithful, the depraved, murderers, the unchaste, sorcerers, idol-worshipers, and deceivers of every sort, their lot is in the burning pool of fire and sulfur, which is the second death.[2]

            If we continue our study of the causes that lead to the ecclesiastical inferiority complex –we have already mentioned that there are diverse deeper levels—, we find that lack of Faith is another possibility; something that Jesus Christ Himself seems to have confirmed:

            --Why are you so frightened? Have you still no faith?[3]

            Since Faith is the sister of Love and is actualized by Love (Gal 5:6), we may conclude that Love (or the lack of It), is the final and the most profound cause, of the ecclesiastical inferiority complex: fear, according to the Master, comes because the Faith has been lost. At the same time, one has faith in a person to the same measure –and only in that measure—that one loves that person. We will consider this in the last editorial of this series.