Storm Clouds and Sunshine, The Oregonian, April 2, 2010

Storm Clouds and Sunshine

The Oregonian
April 2, 2010

http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2010/03/storm_clouds_and_sunshine.html

Die Frauenkirche, Dresden

For faithful Catholics, this is a week of mysteries. It is the ferociously joyful apex of the Christian calendar, commemorating the death and resurrection of a human being who is reckoned to have been an incarnation of God.

This year, it is also a season of sorrowful reflection about the imperfections of the church, the worldly institution that has shepherded, consoled, protected, encouraged and, disgracefully, sometimes abused the trust of its followers. The season has seen a slow unrolling of another shameful set of unholy revelations -- revelations, this time, that lap at the very doorstep of Rome.

The human inevitably fails to adopt and adhere to the standard of the divine: That must be understood and forgiven. But what is unconscionable is for the institution that heralds the Resurrection is to have systematically concealed and transferred its darkest transgressions, knowingly to have permitted predators to retain their positions of authority and trust, then to have denied it all.

It is, sadly and grimly, a replaying of the events of the very first Holy Week, when the story that Christians know by heart says that Jesus was seized and interrogated by authorities of the church and state. It is said that Jesus predicted that Peter, his fiercely outspoken apostle, would deny knowing him at that uncertain hour, and that Peter fulfilled that prediction. Yet, earlier, Jesus also told Peter that he was "the rock, upon which I will build my church" -- the first pope.

It is the human conundrum: To be entrusted with a powerful and precious truth, and to inevitably be found unworthy of it. It is a condition that has sparked anger and sorrow in Oregon, Wisconsin, Ireland, Germany and surely everywhere where humans preach in the name of God.

It is strange and empowering to recognize that secular justice has proved to be the most powerful source of sunlight in these dark corners of the church. Had it not been for civil lawsuits, for example, few would have known how the church in Oregon shuffled troublesome priests from place to place, allowing them to continue to oversee the young and emotionally vulnerable. And while the Catholic Church in Oregon has moved beyond the shame of those episodes, the damage lingers in the victims and tarnished trust in the institution.

The scandal that touches so closely upon the recent history of Pope Benedict XVI ultimately may benefit the church by forcing a reconsideration of policies that make it so difficult for a person to follow a priestly calling. A secular newspaper has no standing to demand a change in the requirement that priests be celibate, but the church must eventually confront its own administration of human relations if it is to ensure a sufficient supply of new priests.

Peter atoned for his moment of wavering by ministering faithfully for another 35 years or so. The church, again, has the opportunity to overcome its shame by ministering faithfully to those drawn to its message of encouragement.