America's Catholic church in crisis as some priests prey
by Mayank Chhaya, Indo-Asian News Service San Francisco, Apr 12 (IANS) At a confessional a Catholic priest is kneeling and telling a Father, "Forgive me Father, I want to fondle little boys." "Whew... I thought you were going to say you wanted to ordain women," comes the reply from the other side. Although this devastating exchange takes place in a newspaper cartoon by Mike Peters Dayton Daily News, it accurately sums up the crisis of faith currently bedevilling the Catholic church of America. The country's 60 million Catholics are running for cover out of sheer embarrassment at the rash of complaints of rampant child abuse and paedophilia across churches in America. While the crisis' epicentre is in Boston, a strongly Catholic city on America's east coast, its shockwaves are felt over 3,000 miles (4,800 km) away on the west coast. A latest survey found that 77 percent of people responding to a nationwide poll say Catholic bishops who didn't report allegations of sex abuse by priests should resign. Among American Catholics, 70 percent agreed that such bishops should resign, as opposed to 19 percent who said they should not. "American Catholics have lost a little faith in their parish priests and a lot of faith in their bishops because of the flare-up of sex abuse charges involving priests," said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute that conducted the survey. The rash of paedophile scandals came to light in January when the Boston Globe newspaper reported that Rev. John J. Geoghan was facing allegations of sexual abuse. The paper said while church officials in Boston knew of his problems, he was shuttled from parish to parish rather than being dismissed. In this context the virtual silence of Boston Archbishop Bernard F. Law came in for severe censure. Since the clamour for his resignation has grown nationwide even as Cardinal Law himself has steadfastly refused to resign saying "when the family is in crisis you do not walk away." Geoghan has been accused of molesting some 130 children, mostly schoolboys, over the past 30 years. The Boston archdiocese has so far identified some 80 priests accused of sexual abuse over the last 40 years. Even as the Geoghan issue is burning bright, another has followed right behind. That also involves Cardinal Law. In 1990 the Boston Archbishop attested to the "good character" of a priest named Paul R. Shanley seeking a transfer. The good character certificate by Cardinal Law flew in the face of what his predecessor had said about Shanley. He was described by the previous cardinal as a "sick person." He too was facing several charges of sexual abuse. The two cases appear to have opened the floodgates of similar complaints nationwide. Survivors of Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), a voluntary group whose agenda is so clearly spelt out in its name, has been flooded with phone calls and e-mails from people complaining of abuse by priests. The San Francisco chapter of SNAP has received several complaints from Fremont and Los Altos towns near the city. Complaints have also been received in Los Angeles and many other cities in the country. Notwithstanding the allegations of a cover-up, the question of Cardinal Law resigning is not as easy as popularly believed. Being a member of the Catholic Church he needs the permission of the Pope to quit. While the archbishop has so far held his ground, even the Pope has not expressed himself strongly enough. Bill O'Reilly, who hosts the number one news show on cable television called "The O'Reilly Factor," has repeatedly demanded Cardinal Law's head and severely criticised the Pope for failing to step in to resolve the crisis. --Indo-Asian News Service =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-W-E-B---S-I-T-E-=-=-= To Subscribe/Unsubscribe from GoaNet | http://www.goacom.com/goanet =================================================================== For (un)subscribing or for help, Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Dont want so many e=mails? Join GoaNet-Digest instead ! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Help support non-commercial projects in Goa by advertizing!! * * * * Your ad here !!
