Faithless Fathers

You don't need to be Roman Catholic to sympathize with the faithful who are suffering through yet another chapter in the child abuse scandal. It started when a sea change in public attitudes about reporting abuse began in the 1970's and courts began to hear cases involving abuse against professional associations that failed to police their members. The new framework allowed priests and the church to be sued as well. The problem crystallized in 1984 with the case of Father Gilbert Gaute, who had molested scores of boys over twenty years. He was sentenced to twenty years in prison.

The fact that this went on for so long raised questions about cover-ups by the church and eventually exposed a pattern of transferring problematic priests. Covering-up is a typical human response, whether it's Nixon in 1973 or Toyota today. But the church isn't in politics or industry: its purpose is to do God's work and the sense of betrayal helped cause a decline in membership and a shortage of priests. Christianity had been under siege anyway, and this was a monumental black eye considering the nature of the crimes and the fact they were perpetrated by pedophiles masquerading as trusted holy men.

As usual, it's good to take a step back and put this in perspective. The 1.7% of priests involved is small, even compared with Protestant clergy. That leaves 98.3% who make serious personal sacrifices to serve God honorably.

Pope John Paul II exemplified this tradition. The Wall Street Journal's Peggy Noonan writes, "For Pope John Paul II, the scandals would have been unimaginable - literally not imaginable. He had come of age in an era and place (Poland in the 1930's, 40's and 50's) of heroic priests. They were great men; they suffered. He had seen how the Nazis and later the communists had attempted to undermine the church and tear people away from it, sometimes through slander. They did this because the great force arrayed against them was the Catholic Church. John Paul, his mind, psyche and soul having been forged in that world, might well have seen the church's accusers as spreaders of slander. Because priests don't act like that, it's not imaginable."

After years of cases, the path to justice is well-worn and anyone with a claim can readily file it. In 2009, six credible claims were made by minors in the 65 million member U.S. church. In the meantime, it operates 637 non-profit hospitals serving 20% of the U.S. population, teaches 700,000 students in 230 colleges, and runs elementary, middle and high schools that enroll over 2 million kids. But salaciousness beats good works for headlines any day of the week.

Those who abuse their positions will be judged by God. But to tear down a pillar of Western Civilization over the deeds of a few is unconscionable.


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