Challenge, but do not attack, Church leaders
Mark DeBoy
class of '00
In response to the April 9 letter "Give the Church a rest," I have a few quick points for Johnny Burns to consider.
First of all, the decision by the Church's leaders to cover-up the crimes in Boston and other places was not "an impulse judgment error." Using the word "impulse" implies that the decision was quick and not thought out. Due to the serious nature of the crimes, making such a snap decision would have been grossly immoral, but in reality the decision to cover-up the crimes was not impulsive. It was systematically carried out for years. So can the leaders of the Church be blamed for covering up these scandals? The answer is yes, not perhaps. Anyone willing to give the Church leaders a pass on the cover-up is the one who is "ignorant and often afraid."
Secondly, we, the members of the Catholic faith, are the Church, not just the members of the priesthood. The priesthood may act as leaders of the Church, but all Catholics make up the Church. So when Catholics are challenging the actions of the priesthood they are not attacking the Church. They are challenging their leaders who have obviously failed. We are not dwelling on the shortcomings of the Church; we are holding our leaders responsible for their actions.
Doesn't the fact that the Church is calling for its leaders to take responsibility for their crimes and accept punishment prove that the Church as a whole has a deeper understanding of their faith than the leaders who committed and enabled crimes against innocent Church members? Don't the calls for investigations and reforms of the priesthood prove the Church has a better understanding of how the priesthood should act than some of the priests themselves?
Mark DeBoy
class of '00
April 10, 2002
All Viewpoint Stories for Wednesday, April 10, 2002
