By Mike Labella
The Eagle-Tribune
December 12, 2010
http://www.eagletribune.com/haverhill/x1822750937/Catholics-see-priest-scandals-as-human-weakness-look-to-God-for-strength
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| PAUL BILODEAU/Staff photo Sacred Hearts pastor the Rev. Robert Conole in the sanctuary of the Sacred Hearts Church in Haverhill. |
For generations, many Catholics trusted their parish priest more than anyone else.
He counseled couples preparing for marriage. He tried to ease the pain of families who lost a loved one to death. He listened to people's confessions — their deepest failings and regrets.
But the sex scandal that emerged in 2002 shook the Catholic community so deeply that some members left the church. Some who remained wondered whether they could ever have trusting relationships with priests again.
An effort toward healing began. Priests talked openly with their congregations about the scandal. Catholic churches and schools adopted strict rules to protect children and eliminate any suspicion that priests were having inappropriate contact with them.
Then a scandal hit again locally this year. Police accused the Rev. Keith LeBlanc of stealing $83,147 from St. John the Baptist Church in Haverhill, where he was pastor for five years. Police said he spent much of the money on pornographic movies. LeBlanc left St. John the Baptist in June and faces criminal charges.
He is receiving counseling, and church members are left wondering why it all happened.
The answer, said a Haverhill priest who oversees three area churches, is to realize that priests are human beings with weaknesses they sometimes succumb to. Despite their chosen vocation, they are far from perfect.
"I think we have to come to terms with the fact that the church on Earth is imperfect, and the church in Heaven is perfect," said the Rev. Robert Conole, pastor of Sacred Hearts Church in Bradford. "I think at various times all of us are broken people. The way we restore that brokenness is through God's grace.
"When Jesus picked the Apostles, he only had a 75 percent success rate," Conole said. "Peter denied him, Thomas doubted him and Judas betrayed him. With three of the 12, there was some weakness there."
As the local Catholic community weathers this latest scandal, its priests continue the work of rebuilding and encouraging their flocks to hold tight to their faith.
Part of that rebuilding process should allow church members a greater say in how the Catholic church operates — even letting them suggest major changes, said Thomas Groome, professor of theology and religious education at Boston College.
"The Catholic church has fallen from grace and it has fallen hard," Groome said. "And much of it has to do with the structure of the priesthood that insists on celibate males.
"Yes, individuals will fail us and let us down, but it's also time the Catholic laity calls for a restructuring of the priesthood, as there is something awry," he said. "I think people have to cry out. Lay people have to speak up. You seldom hear of deacons being accused of crimes, and you have to ask why. Not that marriage is a simple solution to any problem."
Groome also serves as chairman of the Department of Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry at Boston College, and has published several books, including "What Makes Us Catholic: Eight Gifts For Life."
Groome said it may sound pious, but the key for Catholics is to look to Jesus, which is the heart and the soul of the Catholic faith.
"Our faith is not in the local priest, although if you put your faith in your local priest, he could disappoint you," Groome said. "We have to refocus our faith on the basics, on God, on Jesus and on the Gospels ... There is still a greater good here that outshines and outstrips the scandals, the embarrassments and the failures."
Another blow to the church
Local Catholics lost another priest this year, but he is expected to return to his church in Methuen. In October, the Rev. Richard Burton, pastor of St. Lucy Parish, announced he was struggling with an alcohol problem.
Burton said he would travel to the Guest House at Rochester in Minnesota, a Catholic clergy treatment center for addictions.
When interviewed before his departure, he said he was keeping a promise he made to his close friend the Rev. Dennis Nason, who was pastor of All Saints Church in Haverhill for 12 years before he died in October.
"There's no scandal, but if I disappear, the first thing people were going to wonder was, 'What did he do?'" Burton said before he left for treatment. "I just wanted to be up front and deal with it. In this day and age when so many things are happening in the church, I didn't want anyone gossiping about me."
Terrence Donilon, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Boston, said at the time that Burton "has the support of the diocese and parish."
"Obviously we're very proud of Father Burton. He's showing great courage and strength by setting an example for others," Donilon said. "We pray for his care and look forward to his return."
Conole said St. Lucy Church will be getting a "good, holy and healthy priest" when Burton returns.
"There is an expression used in pastoral theology," Conole said. "Whatever it is, alcohol, whatever, you name it, you claim it, and you tame it."
'It's about our faith in God'
One Catholic who has seen the sex scandal that emerged in 2002 as well as the recent problems said faith in the power of God will get Catholics through trying times.
"It's not about a building or about a priest. It's about our faith in God," said Joan Cranton, who over the years attended St. John the Baptist Church and now St. James Church in Haverhill. "When four churches in Haverhill merged years ago, people felt devastated, maybe even betrayed, but they survived."
Reflecting on LeBlanc, Cranton said nobody is perfect, including priests.
"They are human, and we accept that people can have faults," she said. "People disappoint you all the time, and you have to move on and not dwell on it."
The LeBlanc arrest was especially difficult for the people of St. John the Baptist Church. Among the priests implicated in the sex scandal in 2002 was the Rev. Ronald Paquin, former St. John the Baptist pastor, who is serving a 12- to 15-year sentence in state prison for raping a Haverhill altar boy several times. Paquin was ordered to leave St. John the Baptist in 1990 and was thrown out of the priesthood in 2002 after admitting he was a child molester at that church in the 1980s.
Conole said the charges against LeBlanc have shaken some people. They are surprised that he would be accused of stealing money from his church, but shocked at the allegation that he spent much of it on pornography.
"It is a tragic situation to think weakness can be so overwhelming," Conole said.
In July, the archdiocese named the Rev. Robert Murray, who is pastor of St. James Church, as pastor of St. John the Baptist as well.
St. John parishioner John Connor said Murray has brought a sense of stability.
"Father Murray has been patient, slow and deliberate," Connor said. "His demeanor will help bring calm back to the parish."
Prayer brings him answers
Conole knows first hand what it is like to step into a place of scandal.
In March of 2005, his predecessor as Sacred Hearts pastor — the Rev. Michael Randone — was fired as the chaplain for Central Catholic High School in Lawrence for violating a policy prohibiting unsupervised contact between faculty and students.
Randone was accused of sending an inappropriate e-mail to a female student, an accusation he denied. Randone resigned as pastor, and church officials at the time said his resignation was a personal choice and had no connection to Central Catholic firing him. The state Department of Social Services found no evidence of wrongdoing, but the DSS report found that Randone, "crossed boundaries appropriate for a caretaker."
In June of 2005, Conole replaced Randone at Sacred Hearts. Conole said the three-month period before he arrived allowed Sacred Hearts parishioners to process what had happened and gave them time to heal.
"I think there were still questions from the people, but I was not prepared or equipped to answer them," Conole said. "There is no boilerplate way of dealing with situations, whether it is something financial, something pastoral or a need for stabilization. Whatever the situation, you respond to it the best you can to bring about peace and calm. But it varies by situation."
And in any storm, Conole finds comfort and answers in prayer.
"Some people see it as a stock answer, that we pray" when encountering a problem, Conole said. "But that is what we do."
Contact: mlabella@eagletribune.com
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