BishopAccountability.org
	Marcos Bretn: Monsignor Perseveres Amid Pain of Church Scandal By Marcos Breton Sacramento Bee April 2, 2008 http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/829765.html It seems that every day, we learn of a new victim of sexual abuse at the hands of a priest. Another victim stepped forward Tuesday in the hopes of bringing to justice a fugitive in Mexico a former priest from Sacramento who is accused of committing unspeakable crimes in local parishes. The scandal has left an indelible mark on the U.S. Catholic Church, including the Diocese of Sacramento, which has been rocked by multiple allegations. Someone from the diocese has had to face a public demanding answers. That someone is usually Monsignor James Murphy. "We've certainly been humbled," Murphy said Tuesday, the same day Gabriela Enriquez, 26, said she had been repeatedly molested by Gerardo Beltran, a fugitive priest recently arrested in Mexico. "I've never had serious doubts of my faith, but I have been disappointed in the church when the church fails. The sex abuse scandal was shocking." For the adults living with the shame of being abused as children, nothing anyone does or says can ever set things right. And if he is guilty, Beltran deserves a special place in hell for what he did. The last few years have been excruciating for everyone involved. But for a church recovering from these wounds, Murphy's rich Irish brogue has brought a kind of comfort. An old-style priest who has ministered to Catholics in Sacramento for 40 years, Murphy has lived a selfless life one that stands in contrast to colleagues who betrayed their vows and the young who trusted them. His soothing faith is expressed in meticulously prepared, directly delivered sermons. He is a familiar face around Sacramento, the priest who can't sit still during Kings games. He has performed hundreds of local weddings, funerals and baptisms. He has tended to the sick and dying. He has advocated for downtown housing for the poor. In many ways, such a life can be very lonely. Murphy could be a grandfather by now, a reality not lost on him. Moreover, in the years he's been a priest, the ranks of priests have shrunk, and promiscuity in the public domain has grown more pronounced. It can be a tough line of work. Whether the church is still relevant has been a question dogging people of faith like Murphy, the rector of the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament. And at the height of the sex abuse scandal in the church, Murphy and other priests felt their faiths tested in varied ways. "I'd be walking down K Street, and people wouldn't make eye contact. You could tell what they were thinking," Murphy said. What happened? The church has tried to atone as best it can and priests like Murphy have kept preaching. Some believers turned away, but many parishioners keep coming back, proving that renewal and forgiveness are not abstract concepts. It's happening in local pews. "The church is filling up again, people are hungry for prayer," Murphy said. Next week, Murphy will leave for an extended sabbatical in Mexico. When some might retire, Murphy plans to write a book and help the church recruit future priests. After being gone for six months to a year, Murphy plans to return home and preach until he no longer can. "My family keeps asking me if I'm going to retire in Ireland and I say no," Murphy said. "My roots are in Sacramento, the city where I've lived for 40 years." Contact: mbreton@sacbee.com
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