BishopAccountability.org
	In Effort to Separate the Men from the Boys . . . Perceptions of Guilt Torment the Innocent By A. E. P. Wall Orlando Sentinel [United States] June 21, 2005 Nobody was surprised when the nation's Catholic bishops voted last week to renew policies that permanently yank from ministry any priest they believe guilty of sexual abuse. There was little resistance, but Bishop Edward Hughes of Metuchen, N.J., was quoted by Margaret Ramirez, religion reporter for the Chicago Tribune: "I am concerned about what effect this new reaffirmation will have on our priests. Not just those who have offended, but all priests. Many are anxious and uncertain and still believing an accusation is tantamount to being judged guilty." The bishops rejected notions of due process and forgiveness. They continued, however, to recite the words of the Lord's Prayer, "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive." On the same day that the bishops were meeting in Chicago, a father was released from the nearby Will County jail. Kevin Fox, 28, had been held seven months, accused of sexually assaulting and murdering his 3-year-old daughter. He had renounced a false confession, but was kept in jail until DNA evidence proved that someone else had committed the crime. The Fox family has filed a lawsuit claiming that Kevin Fox's civil rights were violated and that he was coerced by police to make a false confession. The Chicago Tribune quoted Archbishop Harry Flynn of St. Paul-Minneapolis as saying that several bishops hoped the policy would be modified in the future because it contradicts Catholic teaching on forgiveness of sin. Thus the bishops' formal Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, despite its good intentions, offers little protection to the falsely accused. These two news events, breaking on the same day in the same area, underscore the vulnerability of a priest or layperson who is accused, but not convicted, of wrong and vicious conduct. Some accusations claim abuse decades in the past. Interviews with residents of Fox's hometown, conducted by Charla Brautigan for the Daily Southtown newspaper after science and the court found him innocent, turned up comments like this: "I wouldn't want him as my neighbor. I can't trust somebody like that." Said another resident about Fox's job prospects: "Who's going to hire him? He's labeled a creep regardless." Not all public prosecutors wait out a comprehensive investigation, and completion of laboratory tests, before filing charges that turn innocent citizens into prosecutorial hit-and-run victims. Others energetically shield the innocent and promote equal justice. Not all bishops are able to combine their administrative responsibilities with pastoral charity and a quest for holiness. The Catholic Church in the United States has reportedly paid a billion dollars to settle claims of abuse, and alert administrators want such claims to stop. For some, that may be more urgent than due process for priests. In 2004, there were 43,304 priests in the United States, serving a Catholic population of 64.3 million. In 1965, there were 58,632 priests serving 45.6 Catholics. Incidentally, the decline in priests produces a smaller pool of men who might be considered for the episcopacy. Celibacy cannot be easy, especially in a sex-driven culture. An espirit de corps that once helped the ordained to support one another and to accept a paternal leadership from their bishops has dissolved. Priests have less confidence in their bishops as pastors. Laity have less confidence, and virtually none of the awe their parents felt as they knelt to kiss a bishop's ring. A banner with a crest of hypocrisy flaps in the wind. Churches Protestant and Catholic struggle with sexual injunctions of 2,000 years ago. They're in the same book that tells the ghastly consequences of a false conviction and the satisfactions of yielding to charitable impulses.The struggle has brought anathemas, excommunications, defrockings and lawsuits. Could this be a God-given moment for reconciliation and healing? What if the moment passes, unnoticed? A. E. P. Wall is author of "The Spirit of Cardinal Bernardin" and an online editor at www.aepwall.com. He wrote this for the Orlando Sentinel.