More Viewer Reaction to the Boston Travesty

Editor's Note

Note: on February 14 Catholic Exchange published Rod Dreher’s article, “Boston Travesty,” in the Edge. Prior to February 14 a family wrote to Catholic Exchange and told us they were leaving the Catholic Church. That letter and our senior content editor Mark Shea’s response were published in the February 14 Viewer Letters. After running more viewer reaction on February 18, the following letters are presented today.

Disagreement from a Victim's Family

Dear Catholic Exchange:

I am writing to you to state my disagreement with your reponse to Charles Seargent. The Roman Catholic Church in America is rotten to the core with its pedophile priesthood. You can talk about the Church as the Body of Christ. You may not be risking your son's innocence with a priest, but would like others to do so. My brother was molested by a priest, we got the hush money and it destroyed our family in many ways.

My recommendation is to find a Protestant alternative and live with it, trusting in God and not a Church hierarchy that is far from God.

Sincerely,

A Viewer

Dear Viewer:

We at Catholic Exchange are grieved by the pain you and your family have suffered. We continue to believe that it is a mistake to leave the Church over this horrible sin, but rather than argue with you in your pain, we instead side with you in your entirely legitimate grievance against the corruption of bishops and clerics and say to them, not you: “Look what you have done.”

To those who have so gravely sinned against your family, we offer this solemn warning from our Lord Jesus:

Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me; but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened round his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. (Matthew 18:5-6).

Memo to the American hierarchy: Clean these Augean stables!

Mark Shea

Senior Content Editor

Catholic Exchange

Writing Cardinal Law

Dear Catholic Exchange:

I have not been online for a while, so it was only today that I had the opportunity to read your letter regarding the despicable sexual abuse and cover-ups in Boston. I am so relieved to see that you believe Cardinal Law must go. I am a CCD teacher and a faithful Catholic. My first reaction to these scandals was that Law must resign, but I wasn't sure whether or not I would be helping or harming the Church for getting on the bandwagon with those calling for him to step down. Your arguments have helped me realize that those who love the Church must demand that he be removed.

What angers me the most are all of these totally lame arguments that the Church was relying on bad information from mental health experts. Any idiot can come to the conclusion that placing a priest who is a known child molester in a position which gives him access to more children is wrong. Not only wrong, but criminal. No wonder the Church is losing members right and left! (Including many in my own family!) These kind of actions give more ammunition to those who, like some of my relatives, think the Church is nothing but a corrupt, sleazy organization that spreads a false religion and deceives its members.

My question is this: What specific things can I do to help bring about the resignation of Cardinal Law? I am planning to write a letter to the Boston diocese (to whom do I address it? The Cardinal himself?), but what else can I do?

Thank you for remaining faithful, and encouraging the rest of us to do the same. This wound is deep, and will take much time to heal. God help us all.

Sincerely,

Kelly A. Pontiere

Dear Kelly:

This is a moment in which the voice of the laity can play a critical role in changing the way business is done among the clerical guild. Your voice is critical and you are entirely right to make it heard. The best thing you can do is to write Cardinal Law and ask him to step down. The website of the Archdiocese of Boston is www.rcab.org. In addition, don't forget to cc your own bishop so that this message is heard throughout the American Church. If you prefer, you can snail mail Cardinal Law at

Cardinal's Residence

2101 Commonwealth Ave.

Brighton, Mass 02135

And if you are aware of other offending bishops, do not hesitate to do the same. Write respectfully, as befits the office, and write in love and mercy, not bitterness. We demand reform, not revolt. But we do demand reform and will not be put off any longer.

Mark Shea

Senior Content Editor

Catholic Exchange



Editor's Note: To contact Catholic Exchange, please refer to our Contact Us page.

Please note that all email submitted to Catholic Exchange or its authors (regarding articles published at CE) become the property of Catholic Exchange and may be published in this space. Published letters may be edited for length and clarity. Names and cities of letter writers may also be published. Email addresses of viewers will not normally be published.

According to One Viewer: Celibacy is the Cause

Dear Catholic Exchange:

The current scandal – and it is not the only, only the current, sex scandal within the clergy – is not a valid reason for leaving the Church. It is, however, a valid reason to review and possibly rethink the sexual teaching(s) and the 6th Commandment.

Most of us raised Catholic and who went to Catholic schools (16 years here, then secular law school), are hazily aware that Popes did god-awful things centuries ago. They may have done them more recently or earlier than the de Medici Popes but it's clear that Popes and by rational inference, cardinals, bishops and priests were involved over the centuries right up to the present day.

And, painful as it is to say, that must include our nuns, which is rather like condemning one's mother.

Accepting that as proof of humanity and original sin is one aspect of dealing with the issue. Another is to look at why sex is such a big deal with Catholics. It is because our clerics have made it so. The 6th Commandment refers to adultery. Okay; I accept that, literally. But, to accept the tortured extensions of “adultery” to include all sex outside of marriage is dumb. Say all you want about celibacy but it's still as unnatural as homosexuality. And to have celibates and homosexuals devise the sexual rules for heterosexuals is letting the inmates run the institution.

In plain fact, the extensions of the 6th Commandment are wrong rather like going to Hell for eating meat on Friday used to be. Both were brought to us by the same frenzied folks behind the clerical walls. Where is it writ that: Thou shalt not fornicate? or Thou shalt not masturbate?

As for the argument that if I want to pick and choose, I should be a Protestant, that implies that if I want to think I should not be Catholic.

I'll take my chances on Judgment Day.

Sincerely,

James

Dear James:

Your position is a common one–and wrong. To begin with, you embarrass yourself with your stunning ignorance of the teaching of Jesus and his apostles by asking, rhetorically: “Where is it writ that: Thou shalt not fornicate?”

Well, it's “writ” in Matthew 15:18-19: “But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander.

The speaker here is Jesus Christ. You might remember him. King of Kings. Lord of Lords. Judge of the Universe. He's the guy with whom you will be taking your chances on Judgment Day. And, as a lifelong celibate himself, he might dispute your statement: “Say all you want about celibacy but it's still as unnatural as homosexuality.”

As to the rest of your post, it is as innocent of contact with information on pedophilia as it is of contact with Scripture. It is rooted in the vague American idea that Sex is Everything and that nobody could possibly choose celibacy and find it a source of grace (coupled with the notion that to resist sin is “unnatural” and therefore could only lead to weird and explosive pathologies). The reality is simply not in line with your muddled call for unrestrained sexual license.

Here's the reality: In the book, Pedophiles and Priests (Oxford Univ. Press) by Pennsylvania State Univ. Professor of History and Religion Dr. Phillip Jenkins, we discover that pedophilia is NOT any more prevalent a problem among priests than among any other denomination of minister or helping profession (doctors and teachers for example). According to Jenkins, who is, incidentally, not Catholic, the incidence of pedophilia for ALL clergy (Catholic and Protestant) is only 0.3 percent. In fact, the most pessimistic studies indicate that pedophilia is a problem that affects–at most–only 2% of the clergy, a number common with all helping professions.

This means, quite simply, that it is ridiculous to believe that the problem is “caused” by celibacy, since large numbers of pedophiles are already married. It is worth noting that, in fact, Dr. Jenkins asserts that the problem of priestly pedophilia has been hijacked by liberals within the Church who use it to prop up their own agendas regardless of whether or not the facts support their case (they don't).

I urge you to not simply allow the editorial pages of the New York Times to do your thinking for you but to attempt the daring program of questioning critics of the Church from time to time. The problem is not celibacy. The problem is not Catholic theology. The problem is priests indulging their appetites in just the way you suggest all appetites should be indulged–without thought of consequences–and, most especially, with bishops who cover up, lie, and perpetuate abuse rather than kicking out the bad priest and handing him over to justice.

Inane charges that celibacy causes pedophilia solve nothing because they are simply counter to reality. They merely distract from the real problem: bishops and priests who are unfaithful, not too faithful, to Catholic faith and morals.

Mark Shea

Senior Content Editor

Catholic Exchange

Subscribe to CE
(It's free)

Go to Catholic Exchange homepage

MENU