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	Clergy Cleanup Catholic Church Mishandled Its Sex Scandal, Says Rick Rojas By Rick Rojas The Batt July 17, 2007 http://media.www.thebatt.com/media/storage/paper657/news/2007/07/17/Opinion/Clergy.Cleanup-2924218.shtml Texas — Standing before a cluster of microphones and cameras, Cardinal Roger Mahoney apologized to those sexually abused by members of the Catholic clergy, calling the actions of those priests a "horrible sin and crime." But Cardinal Mahoney and his colleagues owe another apology just as grand to the ecclesia that was also deeply hurt. In a Catholic parish, the priest is supposed to be more than just the man standing on the altar each Sunday morning. He is a mentor, a teacher, a counselor, almost a member of the family with advice intoned with the teachings of the church. He christened you and welcomed you into the church as an infant. He was the voice of solace during times of sorrow. And, by hearing your sins in a confessional, he probably knows more about your personal life than anyone else. The priest is respected for dedicating his life to serving God and His people - one of the highest of callings. But around the turn of the century, that all changed. The news was full of reports of sexual deviants hiding behind the collar. There were young men coming forward with lewd tales of their visits with a priest behind closed doors. There were cover-ups by the church. The pay-offs. The reassignments. Parish priests were no longer thought of as men who answered the call from God; they were reduced to pedophiles hoping to get a hold of an altar boy. Many felt as though they couldn't trust priests, their spiritual guide. Parents were afraid to allow children to be altar servers, fearing what would happen when they spent time alone in the sacristy with a priest preparing for mass. The accusations spread like wildfire. Frauds created phony stories in the hopes of cashing in, often dragging the names and reputations of the good priests through the mud. Which is exactly what happened to the priest who baptized me, my brother and several of my cousins. A student who attended the Catholic high school in Beaumont, my hometown, had accused the father, our principal and pastor, of sexual abuse. While the accuser's name was never released, the father's name and the allegations topped the local newscasts at 5, 6 and 10, and the story was above the fold in the next morning's paper - and it seemed as though this was the case for days on end. We thought we really knew this man: we celebrated mass with him every Sunday, along with his aging mother who sat with the congregation, we ate with him at the potluck dinners in the parish hall. But then we didn't know him. "What if he did do this?" we wondered. My cousins were his altar servers when they were 12 years old - and we wondered could it have happened to them, too? As it turned out, he was innocent. Or at least he didn't commit the unspeakable acts of which he was accused. He did, however, lose his innocence in the small court of public opinion that is the diocese of a small city. Baseless accusations had irreparably marred the reputation of one of the good guys. The superiors in the church's steep hierarchy are just as much to blame as the accuser. When accusations first arose within parishes around the country, the bishops and cardinals didn't do the right thing - firing the men and pushing for prosecution. Instead, they tried to cover it up. The guilty priests were reassigned, continuing their dirty business at other parishes, and the victims stacked up. And here we are. Cardinal Mahoney, who oversees the archdiocese of Los Angeles, apologized as his diocese paid approximately $774 million in settlements, with each victim receiving about $1.3 million. Nationally, the Catholic Church has paid $2 billion to sexual abuse victims or their families. The victims do, indeed, deserve that money, but it has to come from somewhere. The settlements are causing a church that prides itself on charity and stewardship to cut back because of the indiscretions of some members of clergy and superiors who turned a blind eye. Money that could have been used for Catholic charities and recruiting young Catholics for vocations is no longer available. Parishes and programs are being cut and closed. But the loss of trust in the church costs more than any currency. While the handling of the scandal wasn't a sin or a crime, it was certainly as heinous. If the leaders of the church truly want the wounds of the congregation to heal, they must repent.
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