Challenges

 I have been noticing quite a bit of ugliness in the world recently, and unfortunately, I can sometimes be a part of it.  If there is one way that people can be super-ugly it's the sin of gossip.

I don't think of those newspaper "Dear Abby" columns as gossip.  Those articles tend to come from letters that people send to the reporters who write them and the reporter gives their opinion or advice.  The gossip I am talking about happens when people are talking behind the backs of others with the intent to harm the reputation of others, especially if what is being said is untrue.

Making false accusations about someone is also quite evil.  The place we have seen a lot of this is in the Church.  Back in 2002, a priest in Chicago was accused of sexually abusing some children at one of his assignments.  What came into the light of the media was that the fore-mentioned case was NOT a singular occurrence in the Church.  As a matter of fact, sadly, abuse of minors was more common than anyone could have ever thought in the United States.  And when accusations had been made against priests, it was found that some bishops simply would move the priest from one parish to another to distance him from that situation.  Also rather unfortunately, the Church didn't seem to have an understanding of what goes on in the minds of pedophiles.  In other words, the criminal mind will tend to adjust to find a way to commit a crime if one way is thwarted.

There were many such instances throughout the United States, and a whole bunch came into the light via mainstream media.  Several bishops were implicated as not only having been committing the crimes themselves but also as people who might be considered as having obstructed justice.  They knew and didn't do what would have been proper, thinking the legal system didn't need to know.  Boy, was that WRONG.

So in 2002, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops drew up a document which was essentially known as "Zero Tolerance."  Since then, I know that I have had to make some drastic changes in my approach to ministry.  The minute I heard about the document from the USCCB, I knew that everything I had learned in the previous 6 years at the seminary had just changed.  Was I ever going to be able to give a hug?  What if I had baptized a child and the parents wanted me to hold the baby for a picture?  What would I do if a child came running to me and gave me a hug?  Are those things that anyone could truly just shrug off?  It felt like we as clergy were simply "sitting ducks in a pond."  All it takes is an accusation about us and we are removed from ministry.

That's where I come back to my first thought about making false accusations about someone.  A whole bunch of the accusations made against the clergy were proven to be false.  While there have been some that were true, so many more were not.  Yet, from the moment the accusation hits the media, the priest's life and reputation are marred.  We are treated the opposite of other criminals -- guilty until proven innocent.

One priest I know has been accused three times and each time it was found to be a false accusation.  What gain is there for the accusers, especially those who are lying to be vengeful?  Still there are others who say "if he is proven to be innocent, then he has nothing to worry about."  Not true.  I also know many who simply become so far removed and their case on the burner for so long, their zeal for ministry diminishes to almost nothing.  THAT is sad.

The perception I have in this area may be because I have friends in that boat.  Their lives, even after being public exonerated in the media, have not been what they once were.  And that has occurred in several instances where an accusation was made about an instance that allegedly happened 30 or 40 or 50 years ago.  Those are tragic stories, but most often untrue and harder to prove to be false as it turns out to be one person's word against the other.

I ask you to be bold in defending the priesthood in general.  That era of the Church is way past its time.  We need to be telling the young men of the United States that being a priest IS a very good life.  Fortunately, there are many people who do defend us, but it needs to be advancing to the young people.  THE future of the Church is at stake.