'He is our only hope:' Pennsylvania priests, parishioners push forward in faith

By Anthony J. Machcinski
York Daily Record
August 19, 2018

https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/nation-now/2018/08/19/pennsylvania-pastors-parishioners-keep-faith-priest-abuse-scandal/1036981002/

St. Joseph Church in Springettsbury Township. Photo by Anthony J. Machcinski

In 2006, Jonathan Ulrick was leaving his lay job to pursue a life in the priesthood, and a few of his friends took him out to lunch. One of the colleagues, a person Ulrick considered a mentor at the job, made a statement involving a priest and a child and made light of the clergy abuse scandal.

The colleague meant the statement as a joke, but it hurt Ulrick.

“I was wondering to myself, ‘Is this what this guy thinks of me?’” Ulrick said Sunday.

Ulrick, now a parochial vicar with St. Joseph, knew the Catholic Church’s reputation took a hit – with the clergy abuse scandal in Boston in 2002 and the others after it – but joined the priesthood anyway. He told the more than 200 on hand on Sunday that he believes he could be part of a “renewal” of the church pushing forward in faith so that “things can be beautiful again.”

There were subtle differences in Sunday's Mass – hymns were sung, readings were read and babies still cried and cooed – but the Pennsylvania grand jury report that named 301 priests accused of child sexual abuse, including four who were assigned at St. Joseph, was present throughout.

Ulrick called the revelations “contrary to everything it is to be a priest.”

“It’s the joke come to life, and I hate it,” he said. “I can’t imagine a priest betraying his people in a more horrific way.

“I do know that hell exists. If God created it, I think there is a special place for priests who abuse children.”

The grand jury report, released on Tuesday, named four priests who spent time at St. Joseph. A Diocese of Harrisburg list released a week earlier included more names than the grand jury did and had an additional seven priests who served at St. Joseph. None of them have been a part of the parish in more than 50 years – gone well before the parish moved from East Princess Street in York to Springettsbury Township in the mid-1990s.

Regardless, Ulrick continued to apologize for what happened, both at St. Joseph and in the church as a whole, and vowed to “do everything in my power to help you trust in the church again.”

In Ulrick’s nearly 10-minute homily, he called the St. Joseph community a “nurturing” one that hasn’t stopped caring or reaching out to him since he arrived 15 months ago.

That caring community is the same one Father John Daya looks back fondly on. He was a pastor there from 1987 to 2001 and oversaw the church’s move to Springettsbury.

“The parish is fantastic,” Daya said. “It’s a very strong, faith-filled community. There’s no question about the people at St. Joe’s. They work well together.”

Like Ulrick, Daya, too, has shown frustration with the grand jury report and the priests named.

“It’s disheartening,” Daya said. “It makes me angry. … It’s very embarrassing.”

What has helped, Daya said, are parishioners that have reached out and said they know that while some priests were bad seeds, they know many others remain faithful. 

"I believe when the news hit, everybody was upset, but there's so many Catholic churches throughout the county, they're not going to leave their faith," Daya said. "They believe their faith in the church is bigger than that. Their faith is important to them."

The news of the grand jury report left many asking themselves, “Why am I a Catholic?”

“Many will leave the church and those who hate the Church will attack with more ferocity,” Scott Anthony, a youth minister at St. Joseph, said in a Facebook post. “And all that comes at the Church will be deserved and there will be no answer that satisfies.”

Anthony, like many others left answering the question, have responded by believing in their faith, not necessarily those ministering it.

“Despite the long, long road ahead of purging, pruning, penance and suffering on untold levels … It is true. Jesus is real,” Anthony said. “I am broken by what I have read… but our work with young people must continue, now more than ever. And I pledge myself to that end: to bring Jesus to anyone who asks me, ‘Why are you Catholic?’ He is our only hope.”

Gary Workinger, a parishioner leaving the 7 a.m. Mass on Sunday, said that a “trust in God” was helping him.

“You have to love Him,” Workinger said. “If it wasn’t for Him, we wouldn’t be here.”

Karen Strine, a parishioner of more than two years with St. Joseph’s, said her faith was between her and God. 

"You're going before God, not the priest," she said. 

Strine called the sex abuse scandal “a failing of humans,” not a failing of faith.

Ulrick agreed in Sunday’s homily, saying the Catholic Church has often had two narratives in its centuries of history: the failings of priests and bishops that “badly tear down the church” and the saints and the faithful who build it back up.

“This is not a time to abandon the church,” he said.

In a separate insert in Sunday’s church bulletin, Gainer released a statement apologizing to the survivors of child sex abuse.

“I read the Grand Jury report on child sexual abuse with great sadness, for once again we read that innocent children were victims of horrific acts committed against them,” Gainer said. “I am saddened because I know that behind every story is a child precious in God’s sight; a child who has been wounded by the sins of those who should have known better.”

Gainer acknowledged the sins of those who harmed children and the inaction of church leadership who failed to respond. He offered to make amends for the sins of the past and looked to enhance the positive changes made to “ensure these types of atrocities never occur again.”

“I want children, parents, parishioners, students, staff, clergy and the public to know that our churches and our schools are safe,” Gainer said. “There is nothing we take more seriously than the protection of those who walk through our doors.”