Stand up for the Church
Vincent Mata
freshman
I'll dare to disagree with Tom Haight and his April 10 Inside Column.
That child molestation, where it is actually committed, is a despicable crime, no one can deny. That certain depraved men who happened to be priests have fallen to this basest of behaviors seems to be evident. That other men within the Church hierarchy made poor decisions regarding these alleged behaviors is arguable. The fact is, that many people, people even here at Notre Dame, hate the Catholic Church. I shall not try to venture any opinions as to why this is the case, but unfortunately it is the truth.
Now, these people, be they misguided or vindictive, realize that there is little they can do to hurt the rock of salvation that is the Church. But one thing they can do, have done and continue to do, is defame the Church through lies and false accusations. Now, in no way do I mean to discredit those few unfortunate victims who truly have been abused by someone, whether by a man posed as a man of God, or not. The fact is, though, that people can lie. In cases of a sexual crime, where only two people are involved, it is very easy to lie. Whose story should the authorities believe? Remember, in our court system, you are innocent until proven guilty.
How many of these accusations against priests are valid? Perhaps all of them, perhaps not. Perhaps the real cases of abuse were dealt with in an unsatisfactory manner. But even so, attacking the Roman Catholic Church does not do anything but harm. The media has exaggerated and distorted the facts to such an extent that here we are, having to defend the Church at a Catholic school.
How many people have been turned away from the Catholic faith because of this uproar? Does anyone see droves of people rushing into the only ark of salvation that is the Catholic Church because of this scandal? I certainly have not.
I have seen questioning of unquestionable doctrines, a general mistrust of the hierarchy who serves us and a general chaos. The very terminology used by those discussing this issue leads to further untruths. The Church has not covered things up. We are all a part of the Church. The Church is comprised of the Church triumphant in heaven, the Church suffering in purgatory and the Church militant, that is, we the laity, served by the clergy and bishops and led by our Holy Father, the Pope. If individuals in the Church have made any mistakes, those are not mistakes of the Church.
I think it is obvious that the "covering up" of scandal is wise, as the results of this exposed scandal demonstrate. Mistakes of letting certain accused priests remain in their ministry were individual errors, likely the result of a lack of knowledge about the nature of these sick men. This was corrected before this public scandal. If you recall, Mr. Geoghan was long since laicized at the outbreak of this scandal. Dredging up mistakes made in the past and since corrected does no further good.
That new names of accused priests are being turned in to civil authorities, and that others are being suspended from priestly duties, are results of this public frenzy. Many of these men are the victims of false accusations, innocent men who are now being defamed and tarnished. Is it a good thing that innocent and holy men are being ruined for life? Even if some of these men have in fact abused children, that fact will remain. This dredging that will only cause more victimization and harm in the end will not lessen the damage done to these victims. If we truly care about human dignity, we should not care whether we are dealing with a man called by God to the clergy or a member of the faithful.
Justice is a good thing, but in the end, God will sort this out, I assure you. As good Catholics, we should stand up for our Church and for our faith, which is constantly guarded by her. Let's not add to the hurt already caused by the sin that we are trying to fight.
Vincent Mata
freshman
Zahm Hall
April 10, 2002
All Viewpoint Stories for Friday, April 12, 2002
