BishopAccountability.org
	Catholics Focus on Faith Amid Sex Scandal By Bob Smietana The Tennessean April 2, 2010 http://www.tennessean.com/article/20100402/NEWS06/4020343/-1/NEWS01/Catholics+focus+on+faith+amid+sex+scandal At Easter Sunday masses this weekend at St. Ann's Catholic Community in West Nashville, the Rev. Philip Breen won't address the controversy over how the Vatican handled child sexual abuse cases in Europe and Wisconsin. But he knows the stories will be in the backs of parishioners' minds, even as they celebrate the most holy day of the Christian year. "It's a big story," said Breen. "All you have to do is turn on CNN. "And who knows where the story will go." Questions about what Pope Benedict XVI knew — and when he knew it — about the sex abuses by priests in Wisconsin and in Munich have dominated the headlines in recent weeks. Reporters and columnists want to know what the pope knew about the abuse, and whether he failed to act to stop it. Many Catholics, said Breen, are dismayed that almost 10 years after the scandal over priests sexually abusing children broke in the United States, their church is still haunted by the sins of the past. "I think there's a lot of sorrow and grief that goes back to 2001," Breen said. "There's a sorrow and a sense that it was not dealt with." That sorrow has not dominated church life this week. Instead, parishes such as St. Ann's have focused on the end of Lent and on remembering the Passion and Resurrection of Jesus. "Most of the priests are focused on Holy Week," he said. "They are not sweeping (the controversy) under the rug. But they are focusing on observing this part of the liturgical year." Elizabeth Warren, a member of St. Lawrence Catholic Church in Joelton, said she'd been paying attention to the controversy, but has tried not to focus on it during Holy Week. Warren is a member of Voice of the Faithful, a national group that wants laypeople to have more authority in how the Catholic Church is governed. The group plans to hold Good Friday vigils today in New York, Chicago, Boston and Washington, D.C. "We take Good Friday to embrace the practice of our faith with renewed sorrow and pain, in solidarity with those whose lives have been shattered by childhood sexual abuse at the hands of clergy in our wounded Catholic Church," the group said in a press release announcing the vigils. "We pray that the secrecy will finally come to an end." The local Voice of the Faithful chapter has been dormant for several years, and no vigils are planned here. Warren said she was saddened to hear that the abuse scandal has spread. "I think the church still has a long way to go in terms of being open and being penitent," she said. "There's a shock when you hear about the abuse. "But the real gut punch comes when you hear how it was handled." Faith remains strong The news has not disrupted her plans for Holy Week or weakened her faith. "I still believe in the real presence of the Eucharist and the key beliefs of the faith, even if I don't hold the bishops in the same esteem that I once did," she said. Nashville Bishop David Choby, who is recovering from a recent hospitalization, was leading Holy Week events and was not available for comment Thursday. Rick Musacchio, spokesman for the Catholic Diocese of Nashville, said local Catholics remain focused on their faith this week. Church leaders are aware of the controversy, he said. Musacchio also pointed out that abuse of children is a problem that all areas of society have had to learn to deal with. "Evil happens and we as a society have had to learn how to respond to that evil," he said. He said the diocese has strong policies in place to protect children in the church. "We can't change what happened in the past," he said. "The main thing we can do is have strong safe-environment policies." Musacchio reiterated that anyone who learns of abuse should immediately call the police. He also noted that Choby has met with abuse victims in the past, as has the pope. And he said the diocese does not tolerate any abuse of children. "We've not had any contemporary incidents of abuse, and we have no one in ministry who has been credibly accused," he said. Breen said that today, almost a decade after news of the abuses broke in the United States, he's still shocked by it. "I had no idea about all of this stuff," he said. "Most of the priests of my generation were as shocked as I was about this." Tough road ahead While he is disappointed about how priests who committed abuses were handled by bishops in the past, Breen said he doesn't vilify them. "A lot of the bishops didn't have any idea of what pedophilia was and what they were dealing with," he said. "I don't think society as a whole had any idea of how to deal with it." And this Holy Week, Breen still has faith in the future of the church. "My own faith tells me that we are going to get through this," he said. "But it is going to be tough." Contact Bob Smietana at 615-259-8228 or bsmietana@tennessean.com
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