Catholic Church Rebounds

Amid the feelings of anger, distrust and sadness resulting from the case of Father John Geoghan, the defrocked Boston priest on trial for molesting a 10-year-old boy, many continue to support the Catholic Church in Boston.

Cardinal Bernard Law, the archbishop of Boston, delivered a letter to local parishes in which he expressed sorrow for failing to ensure that parishes in the Archdiocese of Boston were places where children could feel safe and supported. He said priests as well as parishioners have been saddened by the break in trust between the clergy and its faithful.

“Considerable damage has also been done to the hundreds of priests of this Archdiocese who, on a daily basis, offer humble, generous, faithful and loving service to their people,” Law said in the letter. “These good priests have been deeply wounded by the reprehensible actions of some of their number.”

Father Paul Henfrich, a priest at Boston University’s Newman Center, said the Catholic Church is a divine institution with a human dimension, which can make the church weak.

“Some people will overlook the good works of the church because of the weakness of a few priests, but people with an open mind will realize there is more to the church than their weakness and failure,” Henfrich said.

Henfrich said some students have come and expressed confusion over what happened with Geoghan, but others have come to express their support.

Antonio Enrique, editor of the Boston newspaper Pilot, the oldest Catholic newspaper in America, said the Geoghan case may erase the work the Church has done in the past and the work the Church still does to help people spiritually and socially.

“This situation has had a tremendous effect on the life of many good priests who are working to help others,” Enrique said. “The facts are being used to put a cloud of suspicion on the legacy and life of all priests in the Archdiocese, when we are talking about only a small minority.”

Enrique said the Geoghan incident, as sad and hurtful as it is, can be used to benefit the Church.

“The Church will come out reinforced by the situation,” he said. “It will help the Church to realize and work to solve her weaknesses.”

Father Donald MacMillan, a campus minister at Boston College, said the incident has put a “black mark on the Church,” but most priests are committed to their ministry and to the oath they have made to serve the Church and God.

“We must keep presenting ourselves as the people who are honest, compassionate and caring,” MacMillan said. “At BC, we try to teach the students who we preach to that they should not condemn everyone because of one person.”

He said he and his fellow priests at the campus ministry have been discussing ways to show all the good the Catholic Church has done at a time when some are losing faith in the Church.

“Those of us priests who are not into abusive behavior have to get into the light and show people who we really are,” MacMillan said. “Here at BC, we need to start advertising all the good things our students do so that people don’t lose heart.”

Roberta Halloran, a College of Arts and Sciences junior who was raised in the Catholic faith, said the incident is disturbing and hurtful to Catholics, but it is not a representation of the Church as a whole. She said for Catholics like her, it is easier to realize this than for non-Catholics.

“I think people who have faith in the Church can recognize this, but those who do not will find it harder to forgive,” Halloran said. “For people who are already skeptical and doubtful of the Church, it will just confirm their suspicions.”

Lisa Bongiorno, a CAS junior who does not practice any religion, said she thinks the Church has been losing its reputation for a long time because it has not adapted to the times as much as other religions have.

“I think priests would have less of a tendency toward molestation and homosexuality if the Church’s structure allowed priests to get married,” Bongiorno said. “You don’t hear about these things happening with ministers, rabbis or reverends.”

She said the Geoghan case “makes a joke of the Catholic Church because he has completely defied some of the standard beliefs of the Catholic Church.”

Michael Black, a junior in CAS who was raised in the Jewish faith, said he knows the actions of one person are not representative of the entire Church, but Geoghan’s actions severely hurt the Church’s reputation.

“If you can’t trust a priest, someone who is supposedly devoting his life to God, then who can you trust?” Black said. “I think this incident has put a crack in the Church that is not reparable.”