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	Many Catholics Support the Bishops’ Defense of the Pope By Marcy O’Keefe Deptuch Los Altos Town Crier June 15, 2010 http://www.losaltosonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=21548&Itemid=60 In response to Ronna Devincenzi’s article “Change is needed …” (Town Crier, May 19) I too am a local member of the Catholic Church, and I could hardly disagree more with her opinions. First, as far as her statement that “few Catholics speak publicly,” I wonder if she has ever tuned in to Immaculate Heart Radio (1260 AM San Francisco), or watched the Eternal Word Television Network. Second, Devincenzi stated “everyone” she “knows is waiting to see what (Vatican) changes will result from the revelations of clergy sexual abuse.” I am not waiting for these changes. I concur with the March 30, 2010 US Catholic bishops’ statement as follows “We write to express our profound gratitude for the assistance that Pope Benedict XVI has given us in our efforts to respond to victims, deal with perpetrators and create safe environments for children. … Pope Benedict is deeply concerned for those who have been harmed by sexual abuse, he has strengthened the Church’s response to victims and supported our efforts to deal with perpetrators.” Many Catholics I know support Pope Benedict in his efforts, past and present, in regard to handling clergy sexual abuse issues. Third, regarding her statement that the “Roman church is imploding,” it is instructive to consider the writings of Philip Jenkins, author of “The New Anti-Catholicism: The Last Acceptable Prejudice” (Oxford University Press, 2004) and “Pedophiles and Priests: Anatomy of a Contemporary Crisis” (Oxford University Press, 2001). Jenkins is not a Catholic. He is an Episcopalian and professor of History and Religious Studies at Pennsylvania State University. In “Pedophiles and Priests,” Jenkins points out that clergy of “most major denominations were to some extent tainted by clergy abuse cases from the late 1980s. The most quoted survey of sexual problems among Protestant clergy estimated that some 10 percent are involved in sexual misconduct of some kind, and approximately 2 or 3 percent are pedophiles, a rate equal to or higher than that suggested for Catholic priests.” If the issue does not affect Catholic clergy exclusively, then why all the media glare on Catholic priests? Perhaps those who feel the Church is “imploding” are reacting to the media’s intense scrutiny of one group (Catholic clergy) versus little to no scrutiny of other groups. Finally, Devincenzi stated, “there is little trust for church leaders” because of “adult abuse” committed by “90 percent of priests, violating vows of celibacy.” Even Anthony Massimini, another former priest turned lay theologian, acknowledged that Richard Sipe’s numbers “may not be totally accurate.” (“Remaking the Church” by Thomas Davis, National Catholic Register March 5, 2010) Davis points out that national data for all Catholics indicate that 56 percent would never leave the church, and only 14 percent strongly indicate they might. Today, priestly vocations are on the rise. Young men, faithful to the Magisterium (the teaching authority of the Roman Catholic Church) and inspired by John Paul II, are voluntarily accepting the discipline of celibacy in order to give themselves fully to their ministry and image Jesus to the world. I choose to trust in the one, holy, Catholic Church, consisting of imperfect members, but founded in Christ. Deptuch, a practicing Catholic who grew up in Mountain View, attended St. Simon School in Los Altos the first year it opened and graduated from Stanford University in 1977 where she was an All American on the women’s varsity tennis team.
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