This week, Pope John Paul II posted an online message to warn the public about the dangers of the Internet. While saying cyberspace offers many new opportunities for spreading Catholicism, the pope condemned the glut of “dangerous and damaging” material at our children’s fingertips.
After the week the Church has had, he might as well be surfing the Web while Rome is burning.
Now is an embarrassing time for the Catholic Church. The trial of defrocked priest John Geoghan, 66, has opened many eyes to the secrecy of the Church and the dangers that can arise from its institution of protection.
Geoghan was convicted last week of molesting a 10-year-old boy in 1991 – one of more than 130 known crimes for which the former priest has been accused. Every one could have been prevented, but Church officials thought it better to turn their backs on the truth than to turn on Geoghan.
Knowledge of Geoghan’s misconduct went as high up as Bernard Cardinal Law, yet Geoghan never received so much as a slap on the wrist. He was merely relocated and made to preach before a congregation with an entirely different set of children.
All of this would have been bad enough for the Archdiocese of Boston, had the crimes been limited to Geoghan. Sadly, such was not the case.
Another priest stands accused of juvenile rape in Haverhill. The Rev. Kelvin Iguabita, 33, who ran a youth group at the All Saints Church, is charged with raping a 15-year-old girl twice in the church rectory in 2000. The girl says Iguabita promised to marry her and assaulted her after she declined his requests to have sex with him. Iguabita took a leave of absence from the church last July.
Whether or not the Church knew about Iguabita’s behavior is up to debate, although Church officials deny they had any knowledge of the incidents until recently. Clearly, however, an error of judgment was made in hiring Iguabita and giving him ample access to children by way of the church’s Catholic Youth Organization, of which Iguabita was director. That’s an error for which the Archdiocese will pay severely.
Of course, Geoghan’s crimes are even more damaging to the Archdiocese in that Church officials were unquestionably aware of the risks he posed to parishioners. And just as the Church overlooked Geoghan’s indiscretions, Geoghan’s lawyer asking the court to do the same.
Defense attorney Geoffrey Packard is appealing the verdict on the grounds that testimony offered during the trial does not pertain to the 1991 incident. Packard said the Commonwealth’s case was “not very strong,” arguing the prosecution proved more about Geoghan’s sexuality than about the crime in question. If his appeal goes through, the court would be forced to overlook some of the most telling testimony of the trial.
Packard wants the court to dismiss the testimony of Geoghan’s former psychiatrist, Dr. Edward Messner, who said Geoghan confessed to being “aroused by children, boys in particular.” Ignoring this, however, would be to repeat the same mistake the Church made in ignoring Geoghan’s offenses; both show a blatant willingness to overlook crucial information when faced with egregious crimes.
Packard’s argument is simple: Geoghan confessed in 1995. The crime took place four years before. Clearly, the two are mutually exclusive.
“They weren’t talking about 1991; they were talking in 1995 about current feelings,” Packard said.
Except that’s not true. Messner testified those feelings precipitated the 1991 incident, as one would expect. His testimony offered solid evidence as to Geoghan’s long-existing attraction to young boys, a fact that becomes more than circumstantial when coupled with the victim’s testimony.
Sexual impulses don’t just happen. Geoghan’s superiors in the Church, including Cardinal Law, were aware of his misconduct and even warned Geoghan to refrain from going to the Waltham Boys and Girls Club on the day of the incident. His violation of that warning was never followed with disciplinary action. Instead, the Church ignored the facts, tantamount to sticking its fingers in its ears to keep from hearing the outcry. It pretended Geoghan’s hands were clasped in prayer when they knew full well they were someplace they didn’t belong.
Geoghan was put into a position of trust with children, and the first time that trust was violated he should have been confronted. Any institution that ignores the welfare of its patrons does no service to anyone. For all the crimes that Geoghan committed, the Church deserves a degree of culpability.
Religion cannot be afforded complete sovereignty in handling lawlessness of any nature. Crime is crime, no matter how well it is disguised by piety. The Church was wrong to protect itself from public scrutiny. We would not accept it from our government, and we should not accept it from religion.
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