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	Squeaky Clean Priests By Anthony Chadwick English Catholic June 21, 2011 http://catholicusanglicanus.wordpress.com/2011/06/21/squeaky-clean-priests/ We rightly expect high standards of integrity from our priests and bishops, but sometimes the expectations are unrealistic. I once saw a documentary on TV – The Right Stuff – about the way astronauts are selected and trained by NASA. Due to the harsh conditions of space travel, and the astronomical cost of firing rockets into the sky, only the very best and healthiest men and women can be given these tasks. Even ace fighter pilots from the Air Force are often not good enough for the superhuman requirements in terms of health and physical fitness, character, stamina and all the other qualities NASA requires of its people. Should the Church proceed this way? Waste hundreds to get the best of the best? Before attempting the answer, we should remember that NASA probably has hundreds and thousands of applicants hoping for the thrill of their lives, who all know they have only a very small chance of being selected, and only very few of those who are successful at being selected make it through the training. I hear that the Navy SEALS in America and the elite units in England's Armed Forces are also an ultimate challenge to a young man. If a man makes his way through so much hardship and suffering, he has certainly proven something to himself. Though, not all do. There are suicides and breakdowns under the extreme pressure. Standards in the clergy have been up and down for centuries. That is the history of the Church. There have always been saints and sinners, the Curé d'Ars or Saint Vincent de Paul and then the slovenly creatures found drunk in their chantry chapels, having spent their ill-gotten money from selling false relics and indulgences. Fr Longenecker has written an article on modern conditions of priests running the gauntlet and occasionally getting keelhauled. When a Priest's Accused. Not being American, I have not followed the story of Fr John Corapi until I read that he has decided to leave the priesthood, with the embittered reasons he gives. See the other side of the Fr Corapi story – An Analysis of the Holes in Fr. Corapi's Story – before blaming his superiors. I then read about another American priest who died recently of a "broken heart". He had been cleared by the civil and ecclesiastical courts of a sex abuse accusation, and then he was accused by another and questionable person represented by who would seem to be a crooked lawyer. Sex abuse by priests is something very ugly and despicable indeed, but going to the opposite extreme of creating an atmosphere of generalised fear and suspicion is just as bad. Read the article. It is harrowing, and goes a long way to explaining why vocations are plummeting and why most of those who have excessive expectations of priests will probably not have a priest or a Requiem Mass for their funeral when their time comes. One of the most important aspects of the Catholic priesthood is configuration with Christ in his Passion and living the Sacrifice he offers at Mass. For some priests, the suffering goes on year after year, until human limitations kick in and they break. The responsibility is often in the hands of bishops and faithful alike. If a priest has to live in a world dominated by psychosis and pharisaism, then all but the truly evil will find it too hard to bear. I think we can safely say that the worst persecutors are not Muslims, Communists, Freemasons or atheists – but Christians. It is easy to destroy a priest through keeping up the pressure and criticisms. In our atomised and fragmented existence, we can learn a lesson or two from Screwtape or any number of his infernal comrades. First of all, idealise the priesthood and make absolute perfection the priest's minimum duty. Don't even think of giving any support – just criticise and demolish at every opportunity. Of course, Father has to please all at the same time and be like everyone's understanding of their little Jesus. Fr Longenecker put it so well! Hammer away for long enough and the strongest man will fall, especially if he does have sinful weaknesses. Bring him to ask the question – Vocation, for what? – and you've got him! One of the most devastating traps for anyone to fall into is all or nothing thinking, black and white. Few things in life are absolute, but a depressed person thinks in absolutes. So do bullies. Life is in shades of grey, and that is often called "relativism" by the hyper-orthodox converts and pharisees of our world. Whether on the part of a depressed priest victim or those taunting him, look out for words like always, never, perfect, impossible and others that admit of no compromise or middle way. Like any other person, a normally constituted priest has several fundamental human needs, as essential to the emotion and spiritual life as food to the body. If we want priests in the Church, then bishops and faithful alike could give attention to them. One basic need is social contact and relationships. Solitary confinement is the ultimate punishment in prisons. Without human contact, mental health degrades rapidly. This is the greatest argument against compulsory celibacy. It is not a question of sex but of relationships. Celibacy is fine when a priest is in a community or a parish that affirms his vocation, but forget it if he has to live like an animal and have nothing but brickbats from his parishioners. Another fundamental need is meaning, purpose and goals in life. This will largely depend on a person's outlook on life and the quality of prayer and spiritual life. We also need stimulation and challenge, a situation where we can be creative and learn new things. From this flows our desire to write, to express ourselves in music and art, or in sport. It would be wonderful to see priests trusted, encouraged to be creative and innovative and not just "company men"! Finally, we all need hope and a sense of being in control, at least to some extent. We need within reason to be able to predict the immediate future and plan our lives. It is known that when people are subjected to torture and violence in totalitarian countries, the most effective means of breaking a person is taking away hope, the sense of future, meaning and control over one's destiny. I bring to mind the beautiful words of Pope Benedict XVI: The suffering of the church also comes from within the church, because sin exists in the church. This too has always been known, but today we see it in a really terrifying way. The greatest persecution of the church doesn't come from enemies on the outside, but is born in sin within the church. The church thus has a deep need to re-learn penance, to accept purification, to learn on one hand forgiveness but also the necessity of justice. Forgiveness does not exclude justice. We have to re-learn the essentials: conversion, prayer, penance, and the theological virtues. That's how we respond, and we can be realistic in expecting that evil will always launch attacks from within and from outside, but the forces of good are also always present, and finally the Lord is stronger than evil. The Madonna for us is the visible maternal guarantee that the will of God is always the last word in history. Obviously he is responding to the scourge of priests who are not merely sinful but evil – by abusing children or covering up for others under their charge. But, also, this lamentation can be seen by the way priests suffer abuse from bishops and the laity, from injustice. Justice not only means that evildoers have to pay their dues, but also that wrongful accusations of the innocent cry to heaven for retribution. There is a middle course. We should find it before the Church in the western world closes down.
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