LOLLIPOPS ‘ CRISPS: Good Friday Grievances

I remember as a child I was terrified of the power of God. I went to Catholic school for 12 years and was taught about the ways of God and about being a good, decent person. There we were taught that God is always watching us, that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit and not to be “used as toys.” We wore ugly plaid patterns, and priests were like second fathers to us.

The Catholic Church has been under the microscope quite frequently in the past few years for its intolerance of homosexuals, as well as its firm stance on not allowing women in the clergy. Well, people are upset again, and this time, it is more than being politically correct or preserving gender equality. I guess I am just starting to lose faith. Not in the religion or my own beliefs, but in the men who are running the show.

Local headlines have been full with the scandal involving former priest John Geoghan and his 130 cases of molestation over the course of the past few decades. Hundreds of other people have come forward and admitted to being abused sexually by Geoghan, as similar stories surfaced around the country. But this story involves bigger fish than that, you see, for this has been a legitimate Watergate-style cover-up from the beginning. Geoghan’s boss, Bernard Cardinal Law, was aware of the “infractions” in the parishes and of Geoghan’s problem, but instead of removing his title from him, he simply bounced him around from one parish to the next, hoping the dust would settle under the carpet. Well, the media has spun these dust bunnies into bloodthirsty Doberman pinchers.

We had this one priest when I was a child named Father Fleming. Father Fleming was a smart man who earned his degree as a psychologist and made some serious loot after he started up his own practice. As the story goes, he woke up one day and felt another calling: the church. He would give up his practice, his comfort, his sexual desires, all to become a man of the robe. Every vice, sin and scar could be cleansed after he committed his life to service and morality. But he still kept his Corvette, I do recall.

One day, I and the kids in my class noticed a change in our beloved priest. He would occasionally come into our music class with a big smile on his face, as all the kids yelled, “Father Terry! Father Terry, do you see what song we learned?” Now, he was coming into our class sloshed, and his drunkenness became an uncomfortable reality to the faculty and a shameful secret hid from the children. He was more than a priest to us because he knew our names. He knew I liked the Yankees and that Todd was allergic to chocolate. He helped us with our Christmas pageant. He was a real role model. Then one day, with little explanation, Father Terry slipped away, and we never heard from him again.

In the end, the worst thing I ever observed from the clergy I grew up with was long-winded sermons and the occasional closet alcoholic. Today, we all have learned the atrocities that have occurred behind the Church’s closed doors, and jokes about priests and altar boys suddenly aren’t that funny anymore.

Do I think Cardinal Law is responsible? Absolutely. His ignorance and apathy made his crime almost as horrific as Geoghan himself. And as we all sit and wait for justice to be handed over, as CourtTV acts as the plank on which the Church and state arm wrestle, the Holy Father himself remains quiet.

The pope is the elected leader of the Church. Being one of the most revered and recognized men in the world, the pope has a responsibility to act in the best interest of the Catholic community. So, what’s the hold up? Are we looking in fine print at the holy scriptures examining where they specifically say this is wrong? Because any Catholic knows what’s in the Bible is concrete; it’s written law.

It’s time the Pope took a stance on this situation.

I’m a hard sell, and the Church has a long way to go with me. Sure, the pope finally apologized for the Church’s disregard for the Jews’ plight during the Holocaust 70 years after the war. He also made a similar apology to the African-American community. Sure, both are nice gestures, but does this mend years of injustice? This doesn’t fix the problem; it just shines a light on it.

As the Catholic Church continues to refuse to accept present times and modernize the Church’s stance on important issues, the religious community only feels that more distant. I think it’s important that the Church learn to accept every kind of person, regardless of creed, skin tone or belief. It seems only right, because there once was this guy who hung out with hookers and gamblers, looking at them not as sinners, but instead as brothers and sisters. His name was Jesus. Ever hear of him?

And here we sit, looking for some justice from somebody, somebody to speak up and not only punish the criminals who hid behind the robe, but assure the Catholic community and the world that something like this will never happen again. No promises have been made, but still I wait. I wait, hoping that once again I can begin to look at my faith with the same innocence and unabashed pride I did while growing up.