Catholic Church in Agony, Ernest Gurule, La Voz Nueva, April 14, 2010

Catholic Church in Agony

By Ernest Gurule
La Voz Nueva
April 14, 2010

http://www.lavozcolorado.com/news.php?nid=4751

Pope Benedict XVI waves from his Papamobile as he arrives for his weekly general audience on April 7, 2010 at the Vatican.

These are not the best of times for Pope Benedict XVI, spiritual leader of the world’s billion-plus Catholics, or the Church. Each day, it seems, there appears new revelations about sexual misconduct involving priests. Also, with each subsequent news cycle there are also new stories on the role he once played, as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the Vatican’s point man in the handling of many of these painful episodes. The anger over what happened and the manner in which it was handled have percolated to the point where the unthinkable---resignation---has even been mentioned.

While the pope has his share of detractors, a number that seems to be growing louder each day, he also has a core group of supporters, including many former Catholic priests. While they remain officially ousted from the Church, they abhor the impression that the Church either ignored what seemed obvious or worked assiduously to cover up sexual predation on young children by priests in congregations across the nation and around the world.

“You have to look at it as an evolution,” said Stuart O’Brien, a former Catholic priest and now active member in Corpus, an organization of more than twenty-thousand and comprised of men who have left the priesthood, many over the issue of celibacy and marriage. “They (the Church) were told that these priests could be cured,” he said. It wasn’t until much later that the Church learned that “there was no cure.”

The sexual exploitation of young children by priests is not new. Church documents, along with a growing volume of legal ones, detail this long, painful legacy. But until the courts became involved in these cases, matters were frequently handled discreetly and sometimes secretly. Rather than punish the perpetrator, he was often reassigned, only to repeat his behavior on the children of a new parish.

Such was the case involving Wisconsin priest, Father Lawrence C. Murphy, accused of molesting more than 200 young boys, including a number in church confessionals, while at St. John’s School for the Deaf between 1950 and 1974. Despite requests from the young victims, including pleas to three area bishops and local authorities, Murphy was neither defrocked nor prosecuted. Also, letters written by Milwaukee’s archbishop detailing the depth of Murphy’s crimes and pleas for the priest’s removal, the man who would be pope, Ratzinger, did nothing. But while Ratzinger was silent on the miscreant priest he did apparently grant one of Murphy’s last wishes. In a letter to Ratzinger, Murphy pleaded that he had repented for his life-long sinful behavior and asked that he be allowed to die with the dignity of his priesthood. Murphy died in 1998 still a priest.

Though Denver and Colorado have endured scandals brought on by sexual misconduct by priests, the Catholic Diocese of Denver has vowed to address any and all matters that come to its attention with a zero-tolerance policy. “We take every claim of sexual misconduct, and especially sexual abuse of a minor, seriously and we address it promptly,” said Diocese spokesperson Jeanette DeMelo. She added that the proper civil authorities are also brought in to investigate any claims of sexual misconduct. Additionally, thorough background checks are part the hiring process of any new employees or even volunteers.

While the policies instituted by Archbishop Charles Chaput and in communities across the country seem to be definitive and serious, they won’t salve the wounds or sooth the pain brought on by years of priestly depravity. “He (Pope Benedict) should go before everybody and tell what took place,” said O’Brien. The former priest, who still performs weddings and adheres to the Church’s teachings despite his official banishment, believes Pope Benedict XVI should “apologize and take ownership and say, ‘I made a mistake.’” Also, said O’Brien, the pope can never allow a repeat of what happened, especially in the case in his own Boston where a number of priests violated their vows and preyed on young boys and where the man in charge, Cardinal Bernard Law, was aware of these misdeeds and did, essentially, nothing. Law was subsequently removed from his post in Massachusetts and reassigned to the Vatican where he remains today.

Collectively these acts have cost the Church dearly, both fiscally in enormous judgments and spiritually with the exodus of millions of parishioners worldwide. No region or country has been immune from this near-viral malady. Sexual scandals involving priests have rocked cities large and small across the U.S. and payouts have been steep. Judgments against the Church are estimated as high as three-billion dollars, with victims in California awarded nearly one third of that amount.

According to DeMelo the Denver Diocese and Archbishop Chaput are ready to assist anyone who has been victimized and wants to take the first steps toward healing. The archbishop, she said, “assures them of his prayers and has committed to doing everything he can to prevent similar suffering in the future.”

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