Volume CXXXI, Number 23 April 26, 2002 f

Church must rebuild moral authority
TODD BUELL

Serious students of American history know that our founding fathers recognized religion as the groundwork of our moral standards. George Washington proclaimed in his farewell address, "Let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion."

Washington's statement logically follows from the Declaration of Independence. If God made "all men equal," then God's laws thus rule all men. Therefore, when one divorces oneself from politically-correct jargon, one realizes that western secular traditions of law and morality blossom from both the Ten Commandments and the Bible's most universal rule, "Love thy neighbor as thyself."

The Roman Catholic Church has long been a forceful voice of moral clarity in the United States. As the Church deals with its current sex-abuse scandal, some hope for radical reforms within the Church-such as the repealing of the celibacy requirement for priests.

Though there may be legitimate reason to question the celibacy policy, it is not related to sexual abuse by members of the clergy and should not be the primary purpose for the Pope's meeting with American cardinals this week. Instead, the Church must take the necessary steps to reaffirm its long-standing moral authority in this country.

Though I admire many of the Church's moral stances, I do not attend Roman Catholic mass. I regularly attend the services of its close cousin, the Episcopal Church. Married clergy have long been a part of our tradition.

However, I do not presume to suggest that reforms like this are necessary in the Roman Catholic Church. Defenders of celibacy argue that the practice allows for priests to be "married to the Church." They opine that a celibate life, unconstrained by a family of one's own, permits a priest to devote himself fully to the needs of his parish, diocese, and the Holy See.

Yet one practical flaw exists within this ideal-the current shortage of priests in America. Many small parishes go without full-time pastors. I know that in my hometown, one priest is responsible for four parishes during the summer.

This shortage motivated criticism of the celibacy requirement well before the current sex-abuse scandal. Some defenders of celibacy claim that unconventional thinking has caused the shortage of priests in the Church.

They cite examples like the diocese of Denver, where the inspiration of a doctrinally conservative bishop-unbendingly faithful to Rome-has resulted in a seminary filled to capacity.

Even if one can repudiate the argument that celibacy has caused the shortage of priests in the American Church, some observers I have spoken to suggest that celibacy facilitated the episcopal transgressions in this scandal.

Some of America's top Catholic prelates, such as Archbishop Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston and Archbishop Cardinal Edward Egan of New York, not only failed to report instances of sexual abuse among clergy but also shuffled pedophiliac priests between parishes. Critics wonder whether these leaders would put children at risk, a shockingly unthinkable deed, if they had kids of their own. Might responsibility for one's own child make one more likely to want to protect him and other children like him, instead of wanting to protect a brother priest from prosecution or loss of vocation?

On the other hand, failing to protect children is a flaw of character and not a result of repressed sexuality. Most do their jobs with honor, dignity, and when faced with the challenge, protect children instead of predatory priests.

Tuesday's New York Times ran a story about the current Bishop of Pittsburgh who fought the Vatican to ensure a pedophilic priest's removal from parish work.

Indeed, it is this type of moral leadership and not the advent of radical reform that the Vatican must extend to its American prelates. To quote Washington, D.C.'s Archbishop, Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the church must "say that this is under control, that it won't happen again, and we're moving in that direction."

In its interactions with America, the Roman Catholic Church has a laudable history of tirelessly advocating for the poor, the hungry, those on death row, and unborn children. In that way, it is the perpetual Samaritan aiding and comforting the fallen traveler on the road to Jericho. In appreciation of that benevolent tradition, the faithful must demand that the Vatican, American bishops, and the "one Holy Catholic Church" internalize and act upon Cardinal McCarrick's words.