Dear Members and Friends,
As you know, many of the stories I like to use as illustrations for life and faith come from my upbringing and formative experiences in the Roman Catholic Church. So I feel a direct and specific comment on the current scandals in that denomination is warranted and necessary.
First of all, in retrospect and reflection, if the truth be told, I most certainly did much more harm to the nuns and priests in my past than any did to me. The fact that some left their calling not long after having me in class is almost certain proof of my impact in their clerical lives. I think my 7th grade science teacher Sister Anne Kathleen said it best by declaring that while she had never believed that people descended from apes, having observed my behavior in class, she would now have to revise her opinion.
So most clearly and definitely I want to affirm that at no time could I ever describe my former parochial school guides as abusive in any way. Irritated? Definitely! Impatient? Perhaps. But abusive and predatory? No. Never. I guess in that area I was lucky, for others in my generation did not fare so well.
While it may at first glance seem otherwise, a celibate priesthood is not the direct cause of men molesting children. Indeed, the men who stalk young boys in our society are not always single. The problem isn’t celibacy, it’s lack of integrity. And so when a priest is caught abusing children, the answer isn’t give him a wife, it’s keep him away from kids.
The current crisis in the Catholic church is not simply about sick people who do evil things. It is more about well people who do nothing to stop it. While we cannot allow ourselves to move into a witch-hunting season of guilt by mere accusation, whereby more innocent people will be victimized, we cannot accept anything less than zero tolerance for those clearly convicted of this horrible crime. To do so is not to be a forgiving community, but an accessory to sin.
When it comes to the trust and safety of young ones given to their care, unless our brothers in the Church of Rome move swiftly to rid their flock of the wolves in their midst, they will likely wind up creating more Protestants than the Reformation. Whether Protestant or Catholic, no one should feel obligated to a church that does not protect its children. From the Scriptures it is plainly obvious that Jesus held young ones closest to his heart, portraying them as models of the Kingdom. We as his Body cannot do any more than Jesus did. We dare not do any less.
From Reverend William J. Keane,
Senior Minister of First Baptist Church of Branford
|
