The Daily Free Press seems to believe that the problem with the Catholic Church Scandal is that church lay people do not have enough power in the hierarchy of the church, or that the more powerful officials must do more to “handle the situation,” (Church Needs Reform, Jan.16). However, what I see as wrong with the scandal is that hundreds of children have been abused by trusted members of a religious community. Many of these individuals have stated that the abuse they suffered affected the rest of their lives, sometimes causing sexual dysfunction or increasing the likelihood for those individuals to become abusers themselves. This problem is much more far-reaching than the reputation of the Catholic Church. While it is important that higher officials are aware of abuses and take appropriate actions, even if a priest is condemned by a higher-up, it is still too late because it means that at least one child has already been abused. I went through the Catholic education system, and priests were respected members of the community who sponsored clubs and chaperoned school trips. The church reform needs to lie within the much-trusted priesthood. Many experts and even priests themselves feel that traditional seminary training causes sexual repression and encourages molestation. Until priests no longer feel sexually stimulated, either conciously or subconsciously, by minors, children will continue to be abused, because a priest must abuse a child before they can be punished by the Church.

Emily Beaver COM 2006 617-352-0454