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	Former Bishop's Arrest Another Test of Faith for Catholics By Rob Linke Telegraph-Journal October 3, 2009 http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/front/article/812074 It is an old story that still has the power to challenge its hearers. It's in the Gospel of John and it has been controversial since the start, says the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Ottawa, Terrence Prendergast. An adulterous woman is about to be stoned by a judgmental mob for her sin. Says Jesus: "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." At this, the people leave, one at a time. "Each Christian," says Prendergast, "is to see himself or herself in the ones who walk away." This is again a trying time for Roman Catholics, particularly for those in Nova Scotia or who know former bishop Raymond Lahey. Lahey, 69, who until days ago was the bishop for northern Nova Scotia, was charged this week with possessing and importing child pornography. The charges have not been proved in court. Lahey was released on bail and is in seclusion at a monastery in Rogersville. A collective sense of shock and confusion is still registering. Given the Mt. Cashel abuses of 20 years ago and the historic scandals of the native residential schools, some wonder whether this case will trigger a cynicism about the wider Catholic church. "That's what makes this so tragic," said Michael Harris, the journalist who uncovered the abuses at Mt. Cashel and wrote about them in his 1990 book Unholy Orders. The Catholic church in Canada has made enormous strides to prevent abuse and sex scandals since that time, but "when this happens, I'm afraid the temptation is to say, 'things are never going to change.'"‚" Harris hosts a radio talk show aired in Ottawa and is the current Irving Chair in Journalism at St. Thomas University in Fredericton. He said the church is not the same as when the revelations of Mt. Cashel held people "dumbfounded." Attitudes, the recruitment and screening of priests, the willingness of the church to confront rather than hide problems - it's all improved, he said. "I had a lady on my show yesterday who called and said 'this isn't a sad day for the Catholic church. This is a sad day for Raymond Lahey.' "She as a Catholic was confident the church has taken the steps to change the system." The Archbishop of Halifax, Anthony Mancini, has spoken candidly of the doubt that has crept into his mind about whether people can still put their trust in the church. "For a moment or two, I may have had that thought cross my mind as well over the last few days because this is a hard thing to deal with," he told reporters this week. "But faith is something that is a lot stronger." Catholic leaders are far from downplaying the severity of the charges, the need for justice to be done or the emotional toll of the news. Yet they and Harris agree the faithful have proven in the past to be enduring and resilient. If invited to speak from a pulpit this Sunday in Nova Scotia, Christophe Potworowski, Kennedy Smith Chair of Catholic Studies at McGill University, said his message would be "The church is in shock - we're all in shock, but we will move beyond this." In Newfoundland years ago, said Harris, the Hughes Inquiry into the abuses was televised on cable and "it was the most watched program in Newfoundland history. "People wondered if it would lead to fewer people going to church." Rather, it galvanized parishioners to compel the church to reform. "To the average person it didn't make them question their Catholicism or their faith in God, but it did make them question their trust in the church as an institution," said Harris. "There was a taking back of the parishes" to reduce the uncritical awe in which priests were held. Prendergast was archbishop of Halifax for a decade ending in 2007. His message for that church is "first of all, to let oneself have the appropriate reactions in this situation: anger, disappointment, frustration etcetera and to name that before asking God for help." His prayer is that these feelings will over time "be healed, restored, renewed by the consolation God wants to give." Lahey was widely respected for treating the allegations of sex abuse in his diocese as a moral wrong, effecting a $15-million settlement with victims and offering an apology rather than going the adversarial legal route. With that in mind, said Harris, "when I looked at this, I just thought, 'if these allegations prove true, what a monstrous hypocrisy this is.'" Yet several double-standards are at play, he agrees. One is how the media influences, by virtue of the unequal attention it gives accused from different walks of life, who has stones cast at him and who doesn't. He recalls that when a prominent Ottawa figure was accused of soliciting a prostitute, "the media and establishment made all sorts of excuses because of all the good he had done in his life." What's at the heart of the matter here, said Harris "can't be seen totally as a Roman Catholic church problem. "It's a human issue."
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