Would You Embrace a Pedophile Priest?

By Fr. Dwight Longenecker
Standing on My Head
July 8, 2014

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/standingonmyhead/2014/07/would-you-embrace-a-pedophile-priest.html


Pope Francis famously kissed a man with a horrible physical deformity, but what if he kissed a man who was even more horribly deformed in his soul? What if he were to go to prison to hear the confession of a pedophile priest?

The Pope has met with some victims of priestly sex abuse and quite right. I’m sure everyone agrees: let’s do as much as we can to make it up to the victims of priestly sex abuse. Let’s make sure we have adequate child protection plans in place. Let’s have a zero tolerance policy on sex abuse. Let’s make sure the bishops who were covering up are stopped. Let’s guarantee that the police will be brought in when a Catholic priest breaks the law. Let’s stop this terrible crime and protect the children.

Once all that is said and done what do you do with a pedophile priest? Would you be able to forgive a man who was guilty of this horror?

What is your attitude? Would you “lock him up and throw away the key?” Do you want to do something worse–castrate him maybe or maybe throw him in among the demonic thugs in prison hoping that they do the dirty work and torture the guy before they finally kill him? It’s understandable that you would feel that way.

If the man is guilty of a crime he must serve his time, but then what?

Should anybody be there to help him? Would anyone have any pity of the man? Would anyone seek to rehabilitate him? Would anyone listen to him, try to understand him, try to forgive him?

I bring this up not to excuse pedophile priests, nor to make them out as poor lost lambs that just need a cuddle. Although any sane person must admit that pedeophiles are sick, I don’t buy the line that being sick necessarily turns them into victims. I don’t think just because you’re sick that you are totally free of responsibility for your choices and actions. Lots of people have sick desires but don’t act on them. I’m not in favor of letting them out early or mitigating their crimes.

But still. Think about it. What would you do? Let’s make it more personal.