Penance For The Church
By Mike Bayham
May 2, 2002

I have been a member of the Church of Rome, a fancy way of saying Catholic, for all of my life. I was baptized a Catholic and I made my first Communion at the age of seven. It was at this time that I was introduced to many of the important aspects of Catholicism.

We were taught the standard Catholic prayers, such as the Hail Mary and that we are supposed to kneel before entering a pew (typically an uncomfortable bare, wooden bench) and to do the Sign of the Cross whenever we pass a church. I also learned about the importance of the Holy Communion, known as the "wafer" amongst Protestants, which Catholics believe to be the actual body of Christ.

And then there was something that weighed pretty heavy even on a grammar schooler whose worst sins consisted of the occasional uttering of curse words and the tossing of rubber snakes on unsuspecting grandmothers, the act of confession. Despite the trivialness of my own misdeeds as a second grader, I still vividly remember my first trip to the booth at St. Mark Church right before making my first communion.

Confession is something unique to the Roman Catholic Church in which Catholics enter a confessional booth manned by a priest who is usually sitting in an adjoining booth though his vision of the penitent is usually obscured by a screen of some type. Some priests, ever mindful of the guilt that some people carry, will even face away from the confessor so as to make the person more comfortable and willing to offer a full confession.

After stating one's sins and expressing remorse for their misguided thoughts and actions, the priest will absolve the person of their sins and suggest a form of penance. The unfortunate stereotype held by some make the priest's prescription sound like a quack doctor's remedy of two aspirins (or in the priest's case Hail Marys) and to call him in the morning.

And though the priest may recommend that the person confessing say a number of prayers, it has been my experience that they will also talk about remedies for their problems. Priests offer more than absolution, which for those who believe in a just God and an afterlife is something of exponential importance, for they also offer advice to help their flock avoid repeating the same sin.

The matter of child molestation by Catholic priests has been the dominant new story in the media as of late. Regrettably, the Church did not address this issue in the public realm until public pressure was so great that it was necessary to have a huddle session in the Vatican to develop policy concerning the problem.

This scandal involves the violation of the innocence of children, the violation of the laws of this country, and the violation of trust between certain Church leaders and their parishioners.

I do not believe that it would be hyperbole to state that the Church in America is in its greatest crisis in decades. Though the rate of molestation is statistically small, even one case is one too many. Unlike confession, pedophilia is not unique to the Church. Leaders of other religious institutions and of various trades have been found guilty of it, but that does not mean that the Church has a reason to be complacent or to retreat to defensive posture by claiming everyone else has these problems.

To my knowledge, the top leadership of the Church in the United States has not been guilty of any indecent act with minors, though there have been some grandiose accusations made. The charges levied against Cardinal Roger Mahony in Los Angeles by a woman who has admitted mental illness have proven to be more farcical than anything else. Regrettably, the problem is far deeper than the sinful acts committed against children for there are the cases of Watergate-esque cover ups by some Church leaders, who used their brooms to sweep the issue under the rug instead of using it to chase the devil out the Church.

Worse yet it has been revealed that known child molesters were not turned into legal authorities by some Church leaders but simply transferred to other parishes where they would be in a position to commit the same crime again just in a different area.

Instead of correcting the sin, preventing it from reoccurring or turning over the guilty party for punishment in the legal system, some Church leaders held back much like a sinner who is too embarrassed to make a full confession to a priest. Church leaders treated the sexual abuse of children by some of its priests like it was a sin instead of a crime, when it is both.

The Roman Catholic Church in the United States needs to do what it advocates its parishioners to do: make a full confession and accept responsibility for what has been done. Furthermore, they should turn over all suspected persons within the Church who have been accused of committing these heinous acts for criminal investigation. While not all of the accused are guilty, a thorough inspection of the cases would likely lead to the vindication of the innocent, while damning evidence against those who have violated children will receive their due penance from a court of law.

Those who covered up and-or knowingly transferred "problem priests" should admit their complicity in the total and unacceptable mismanagement of the matter and should be asked to vacate their leadership position and be moved down to the bottom rung of the hierarchy. Those who are found guilty of any improper sexual conduct with minors should be defrocked, for they have betrayed the Church, its teachings and its members through their actions.

Despite the crisis, the Church has not experienced a mass exodus. To the credit of my fellow Catholics, many recognize that though the Church is holy, it is also human.

Furthermore, the only people who have been bashing the Church are Maureen Dowd and her ilk who did not care much for the traditions and teachings of the Church in the first place. My commentary on this crisis is not meant to condemn Catholic institutions, but to express my opinion on what measures I feel the Church needs to employ to properly address the matter.

Since forgiveness is a cornerstone of Christianity, Church leaders should continue to pray for the guilty and to recite prayers for the salvation of their souls. But because trust is a cornerstone in the bond between the Church and its parishioners, they need to also recite the names of the accused to the police.

If the Church is to be successful in seeking absolution for the various sins committed throughout this scandal, it is going to have to adopt a no tolerance policy on this issue. Instead of only initiating investigations and cooperating with the police regarding "notorious pedophiles," they should adopt a "one strike and your out" policy if it is found that the accused is guilty. Church leaders need to keep in mind that its not just the people in the pews who fill the collection baskets on Sunday that they need to seek forgiveness from, but also the One who they committed their lives to serve.