Wednesday, November 13

Carmelites in San Diego mark the 400th anniversary of the first Mass celebrated on the West coast
The Mall Where You Talk to God:

A lengthy article on Grace Church in Eden Prairie, MN, centered on the church's size, messages and recent news that its pastor and guide to growth over the past decade has resigned, admitting an extramarital affair.

Who is the Antichrist? Dr. John Eagen, senior pastor at Grace Church, has promised to answer that question today during "The Religious Philosophy of the Anti-Christ," the fifth installment of an 11-week series of Sunday-morning sermons entitled "The Road to Armageddon." In anticipation of this revelation to come, a larger-than-average crowd is making its way onto Grace's $48 million, 62-acre campus for today's 9:00 and 10:45 a.m. services.

Eden Prairie police are directing traffic along Pioneer Trail, where hundreds of four-door sedans, minivans, and sport utility vehicles are stacked up, waiting to pull into two stadium-size lots. A gang of volunteer parking attendants, dressed in bright orange vests and waving fluorescent wands, is scrambling to get the faithful through one of four main sets of doors, where more cheery volunteers with plastic name plates are stationed at official "welcome centers" handing out today's glossy, eight-page program.

Inside, organ music fills the halls as a team of camera operators pans the 4,500-seat auditorium and glass-enclosed skyboxes (available for the convenience of young parents with squall-prone children). They fiddle with inconspicuous earpieces as a technical director chatters instructions from his bank of video monitors in a million-dollar bunker beneath the stage.

As the crowd files in, a full orchestra takes the stage and a red-robed choir climbs to a steeply tiered, 250-seat loft overlooking it all. The top row of singers is perched just below a clear, 2,000-gallon baptism tank, filled to the brim with chlorinated holy water. The baptismal font is backlit for maximum visibility; above it hangs a large wooden cross, the only prominent traditional religious icon in the room. And up above the cross, invisible to spectators but indispensable to the show's production team, there are six levels of catwalks stretching to the heavens.

Not so very long ago, the notion of a "big" church conjured visions of grand Gothic structures conceived and built in the classical idiom: high ceilings and endless rows of stiff wooden pews, imposing pulpits high above the heads of the congregation, lots of stained glass, congregants who dressed formally and made sure to stay on their best Sunday behavior.

....Modern megachurches like Grace evoke a similar sort of awe-inspired obedience by accentuating aesthetic elements that modern-day, upwardly mobile attendees have come to associate with order. Specifically, Grace--designed by the Minneapolis architecture firm of Hammel, Green and Abrahamson, Inc.--could be confused with a shopping mall. Inside, it feels like a corporate headquarters turned upper-crust community center. There is no dark wood to suck up the artificial light. The space is bright. The pulpit sits on a Broadway-worthy stage. There isn't a bad seat in the house. And the best-dressed attendees look ready for casual Friday or an afternoon of shopping.


More on Eagen's fall from Grace here



Hey: If you click on the "comments" link and all you get is a briefly appearing blank screen...that means you've installed anti-popup software that treats the comments as an enemy virus. Maybe it knows something we don't....

Tuesday, November 12

From the NYTimes (LRR): An exhibit in Paris examining the use of Christian images in photography.

Thus, over the centuries, crucial scenes from the New Testament — from Jesus in the manger and the cleansing of the Temple to the Last Supper, the Calvary and the Ascension — became familiar to Christians through paintings, mosaics, frescoes, sculptures and friezes. Indeed, as iconolatry grew, these images came to be thought of as more than mere representations of, say, Jesus and Mary: they assumed a sanctity of their own as if they were real.

Yet, perhaps strangely, when many of these same images found expression in the new art form of photography in the mid-19th century, they lost much of their power and mystery. In the eyes of many of the faithful, it seems, real people re-enacting episodes from the Bible looked less spiritual than painted or sculptured images. By the 20th century, photographers had concluded that traditional Christian symbols could remain relevant only if they were themselves transformed.....

....Interestingly, although it is presented as an art exhibition, "Corpus Christi" makes a strong case for religious photography. By working too literally, the early efforts to reproduce traditional Christian images contributed no additional meaning, but postwar photography used the memory of those images to evoke a more general Christian spirit. In fact, it could be argued that an art form invented to reproduce reality has proved to be an effective interpreter of the ethereal concept of faith.

San Francisco man wants to be excommunicated.

Bishop won't hear of it.

"The church gets its political clout from the number of its members," Vargas explained. "My name and my membership was being used to promote this agenda. I realized that stopping going to church just isn't enough. It's very important to me as a gay man not to be counted as a member of an organization that is actively pursuing my oppression."

So Vargas wrote to Levada June 26, 2002, asking politely for excommunication – that is, for the chief local officer of the church, the pope's representative here in town, to formally declare that Vargas is no longer a member of the Catholic faith.

"As a principled and rational person," his letter states, "it pains me that someone, somewhere might be counting me as an adherent of an irrational superstition which has done, and is doing, irreparable harm to humanity and with which I profoundly disagree."

The letter had at least some impact: the pastor of the church at which Vargas was baptized, Father Oscar A. Mendez of St. Antony of Padua on Cesar Chavez Street, sent him back a note saying that he had recorded in the baptismal records of the parish Vargas's desire to renounce his faith.

But that wasn't what Vargas had in mind. He wants it official. "The last time I checked, only a bishop has the authority to excommunicate someone," he said. ....

....But the archbishop doesn't find that quite sacrilegious enough. "It would not be appropriate to use the term 'excommunicate' in your case," states an Aug. 2 note to Vargas from Monsignor Thomas S. Merson, secretary to Levada.

All of which raises an interesting question: what, exactly, does a person have to do to get kicked out of the Catholic Church these days?



...

Here is a link to the Arlington Diocese's Fr. Haley's deposition

Instapundit agrees with Sullivan saying that it would be too bad to "make a big deal out of abortion in January"

I agree. Totally. Let's make a deal not to make a big deal. Bills will calmly be proposed protecting preborn human beings and pro-aborts won't make a big deal about it. Sounds fair.

Here is the link to the Survivors First database you've been hearing about.

I have to say it's very well and fairly organized with names divided into categories of "Convicted" "Civil Settlement or Judgment" "Pending Criminal Action" "Pending Civil Litigation" and "Public allegations" that have resulted in some other type of action. Names are withheld in the last category, and there is another category of "Private Allegations" which is not listed at all. Like I said, it seems fair. The information was all culled from newspaper reports, and the website creator requests anyone with corrections to contact him.

Rod Dreher on the Bishops' meeting.
Bastards.

That's the word that charitably popped into my head upon seeing the headline to that story on Drudge.

On Thursday, the White House held a conference call with social conservatives and pleaded with them to be patient. "They're saying the president's priorities are already known, but let's be prudent and not just aggravate the Democrats by putting it in their face," said Deal Hudson, the editor of Crisis Magazine and an ally of the White House. "It may not be the first thing that this administration pushes because it's not this administration's style to get the controversial thing out there at the beginning."

Yeah, yeah, political concerns, long-term thinking, yadda yadda.

Does anyone who's in politics who claims to be prolife have any sense that this is not about pushing your issue but saving lives? Eh..two months...a few dozen babies. Who cares.

Now. Please note that my scorn was not hurled at Mr. Hudson there, but at the conference-calling White House. Of course! The article does give more hope than my emotional reaction indicates -

The upshot: Religious conservatives will pressure the Republican House and Senate to pass antiabortion measures previously passed by the House but buried by the Democratic Senate. After the ban on the "partial-birth" procedure -- passed by the House in July -- the next priority is a ban on human and embryonic cloning -- which the House passed last year.

Next on the list of House-passed measures come the Unborn Victims of Violence Act (giving legal status to a fetus hurt or killed during the commission of a federal crime), the Child Custody Protection Act (making it a crime to take a minor for an out-of-state abortion in violation of a state's parental notification laws), and the Abortion Non-Discrimination Act (forbidding state and local government actions against hospitals or health-care workers who refuse to participate in abortions).

Connor predicted Senate passage of all five and vowed that "you can count on fact that we will be pressing the Congress to act with dispatch." Douglas Johnson, legislative director of the National Right to Life Committee, said he expects the Senate at least to take up all five "at some point" during the next Congress. As for Bush, Johnson said: "We're very happy with the support the White House has given on all of these bills. I would expect that to continue."

It sounds hopeful, but my reaction is tempered by what - twenty years of waiting on this? Twenty years of promises? Twenty years of dashed hopes and backpedaling? Twenty years of supposedly pro-life presidents looking out at the March for Life and...making a phone call of support, rather than actually appearing?

I'll trust that the people like Deal Hudson, Ken Connor and Doug Johnson know what they're talking about and have the ear of the White House. I'll trust. And I'll pray. And I'll write some letters. Et vous?

Has John Updike's imagination run dry?

Sounds like it.

From the NYTimes (LRR), a former top religious attraction in the Northeast is falling into serious disrepair and everyone's wondering what to do about it.

Under a lighted 56-foot cross, and past the beheaded camel, beer cans and weeds desecrate the forgotten Bethlehem Village.

Around a bend, the gray plaster Temple of Jerusalem, affectionately called "unhistorical and funky" by one local religious scholar, now more closely resembles a prop from a Japanese monster movie. At Calvary, vandals have snapped off the right arm of a die-cast Jesus dying on the cross.

Holy Land U.S.A., a 18-acre park of Catholic-oriented religious kitsch — much of it miniaturized and built with scrap machine parts — was once one of Connecticut's largest tourist attractions, a spiritual lodestone to more than 200,000 visitors a year from all over the East Coast. But after 44 years, Holy Land, closed since 1984 and now administered by nuns who live on the hilltop property, desperately needs a rescuer — preferably someone with a lot of money.

"It used to be beautiful," said Vinny Tata, a Waterbury engineer who drove up to the chained front gate on a recent Sunday with his wife and baby daughter, to show them the place he knew as a child. "Now it's kind of creepy." ....

The Rev. Jaime Lara, a Catholic priest and professor who is the chairman of the program in religion and the arts at Yale University Divinity School, said that despite an appearance that seems to have been inspired by "miniature golf settings and pious lawn sculpture," Holy Land follows in the line of the northern Italian sacri monti — sacred mountains — begun in the early 16th century as an alternative to the dangerous pilgrimages to the real Holy Land.

The Italian versions include miniature cities, chapels, indoor dioramas, and mannequins portraying the important episodes in the life of Jesus, the Virgin Mary and saints. Holy Land, built over years by Mr. Greco and a group of friends who called themselves Catholic Campaigners for Christ, is more of a Catholic Coney Island, Father Lara said.

.....Margaret Bodell, a New York City gallery owner who grew up in Stratford, Conn., said Holy Land should be appreciated as nonreligious artwork, too.

"It's basically a sculpture, and in our day and age these type of environments are fading," said Ms. Bodell, who self-published a 25-page book on the history and artistry of Holy Land. But even she admits that sometimes artistic license got the better of Holy Land's builders.

"When you have mannequins with ketchup on them to signify people being eaten by lions," she said, "it gets a little wacky."

What's your favorite kitschy religious landmark?





Has anyone found an account of yesterday's discussions at the bishops' meeting? We switched to DirectTV, which doesn't carry EWTN, and I don't have the patience to listen/watch online, so I've not been able to follow the discussions, and a quick search uncovers no detailed accounts. Any help?

The Washington Times turns its attention to the strange case of Father Haley of the Arlington Diocese who repeatedly took evidence of his brother priests' misbehavior to his bishop and has been suspended for his trouble.

A local Roman Catholic priest says he is being retaliated against by his bishop for providing evidence that three priests in separate incidents stole church collections, impregnated a married parishioner and collected homosexual pornography.The Rev. James R. Haley says he was suspended by Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde after blowing the whistle on the three priests in the Diocese of Arlington, The Washington Times has learned. "I believe that he's trying to strangle me out of the church," Father Haley testified in a civil lawsuit. He is barred from revealing any evidence of priestly wrongdoing to law-enforcement authorities or the public under a canonical "penal precept" issued by the bishop in October 2001.....

A week later, Bishop Loverde summoned Father Haley to Arlington, gave him four hours to move out of the rectory and into a hotel in Fredericksburg, and ordered him not to return to the rectory without an escort. He stripped the priest of his faculties, which authorize him to wear a clerical collar, say Mass, take confessions, and perform baptisms and funerals.

In a series of "decrees" dated Oct. 23, 2001, the bishop also expelled Father Haley from any diocese post and gagged him with the canonical penal precept. Under the suspension, Father Haley has been denied church housing for the past year and restricted to monthly pay of about $2,000 for housing and all other expenses. He is living in a house trailer in Northern Virginia.

Bishop Loverde agreed only to answer written questions from The Times. Chancellor Rippy did not respond to questions nor requests for an interview.

"Bishop Loverde takes very seriously any credible allegation of misconduct on the part of a diocesan priest, employee or volunteer. [He] has not and will not punish anyone for bringing him a concern or complaint."

This continues to be a strange case. Experience tells us that there is usually more to a story than a newspaper article suggests, but even if Haley had some other problem, the "punishment" (which, no matter what the diocese says, is exactly what it sounds like) for bringing these matters to the bishops' attention seems harsh.



Monday, November 11

Colombian bishop kidnapped

A Colombian bishop who head the Latin American bishop's conference was kidnapped Monday in an area where leftist rebels are active, a Catholic priest said.Bishop Jorge Enrique Jimenez, head of Zipaquira cathedral just outside of Bogota, was abducted along with another clergy member as they traveled to perform a religious ceremony in the town of Pacho, 35 miles north of the capital, Father Raul Alfonso Carrillo told Radionet radio.


Trouble in Dallas:Bishop lets problematic cathedral rector stay.

One of the Dallas Catholic Diocese's most prominent priests has remained on duty for several months despite an accusation that he grabbed the genitals of a worshipper who had asked him for help, correspondence and interviews show.

The case raises questions about whether the diocese is following its sexual misconduct policies, which were toughened in the wake of clergy abuse scandals that cost more than $30 million in legal settlements. It has also exposed deep divisions between Bishop Charles Grahmann and the man named as his apparent successor nearly three years ago.

Coadjutor Bishop Joseph Galante, one of the nation's most outspoken prelates on abuse issues, said he has been unable to persuade Bishop Grahmann to remove the Rev. Ramon Alvarez as head priest of the Cathedral Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe.

The allegations against the priest surfaced in May, when a 58-year-old man told the diocese that Father Alvarez had assaulted him on a Sunday night in 1991. Garland Melancon said he was visiting Dallas and suffering severe back pain when the priest agreed to perform a pain-relief blessing, then pulled down his jogging pants, groped him and propositioned him.

Father Alvarez acknowledged "inappropriate contact" with the Houston-area man and was told to resume counseling about "boundary issues" that he'd previously undergone voluntarily, diocesan Chancellor Mary Edlund said. She characterized the encounter as consensual but would not discuss details. No civil or criminal charges have been filed; the legal deadline for doing so may have passed.




USA Today does what the USCCB apparently has not bothered to do yet: attemps to actually come up with numbers in relation to the abuse crisis

When the nation's Roman Catholic bishops meet today to decide how to deal with priests accused of sexually abusing children and teens, they'll start with a handicap. Nearly a year into the scandal, the bishops have yet to compile a detailed accounting of the problem they face. They have collected no national data on how many priests have been accused, how many are serial offenders, how many are still in the church, or even how many are dead.

....The findings [in the newspaper's study] are drawn from a USA TODAY database compiled from church statements, media reports and court documents. The research identified 900 accused priests across the USA and analyzed data for the archdioceses of Boston, Detroit, Chicago, Los Angeles, Newark, New York and Philadelphia; and the dioceses of Brooklyn; Rockville Centre, Long Island; and Orange, Calif. These 10 dioceses are home to 31% of the nation's 65 million Catholics.

Church officials in nine of the 10 dioceses — all except Boston — verified names and status of the accused priests who have been removed.The findings are consistent with other reports but reveal more detail. Mosst recently, an Associated Press report Sunday found that 325 priests had been taken out of ministry nationwide from their posts since the beginning of the year. SurvivorsFirst, a new victims advocacy group, has announced plans to release a public Internet database Tuesday of more than 600 accused priests compiled from newspaper articles.

There are several other stories in the paper - linked on the right side of the page - that are worth your time.





By the way, there's more to this meeting than the norms. Included on the agenda are:

Norms on implementing the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People
Report on the possibility of convoking a Plenary Council
A document on a Catholic Recommitment to Overcome Poverty and Respect the Dignity of All God's Children
Complementary norms from the Committee on Canonical Affairs which govern fundraising appeals, dollar limits which determine when a diocese must get approval from the Holy See to "alienate, or sell, property, and norms governing the leasing of church property
Three items from the Committee on Liturgy: the translation of the ordination rite, the translation of the General Instruction on The Roman Missal, and the five-year review of the Lectionary
A proposal for a new document in support of Catholic elementary and secondary schools
A revised document on domestic violence
An unprecedented joint statement from the bishops conferences of Mexico and the United States titled Strangers No Longer, A Pastoral Letter Concerning Migration
A request for a new pastoral statement on stewardship addressed to young adults
Diocesan Financial Issues, a new document which will assist dioceses in their accounting and financial reporting
A Pro-Life statement on the 30th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade.


Bishop Gregory's address this morning.

In a few short weeks during the Season of Advent, we shall listen again to the opening words of the 40th Chapter of the Book of Isaiah. The prophet is speaking in the name of God to the people of Israel who have long been in exile in Babylon. The Israelites are broken and afraid; they are dispirited and uncertain of their future. They needed a word of hope. Isaiah steps into their midst and declares in God's name: "Comfort, give comfort to my people, says your God."....

My brother bishops, the word of the Lord, as prophesied by Isaiah, sums up profoundly the mission that has been given to us by God as bishops. We bishops, by the grace of our sacramental consecration, are the authentic bearers of that mission and the message it contains. Like the Apostles whom we succeed, we have been sent to announce God's word that genuine comfort in human life can only be found in communion with Him.

...The Fathers of the Second Vatican Council spoke simply, yet profoundly of the ministry of bishops. According to the Council, bishops are chosen by the Lord to lead the faithful, "presiding in place of God over the flock whose shepherd they are, as teachers of doctrine, priests of sacred worship, and officers of good order" (LG 20). My brother bishops, to the degree that we fulfill this mission that God has given us, to that degree will God's People know and experience the true comfort that God wishes for them.

....The 1973 Supreme Court decision on Roe v. Wade has been disastrous for our nation. Based on a complete disregard for human rights and enshrined for almost thirty years in false logic and rhetoric, that decision, more than any other in our recent history, has been responsible for blinding our national conscience to the truth about our God-given rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The statement before us this week, "A Matter of the Heart," reflects on the impact of Roe v. Wade, calls again - in the name of truth and justice - for that ruling to be overturned, and expresses the gratitude of the bishops to all those who have kept the truth about human life alive. Our prophetic persistence in preaching the Gospel of Christ on this issue cannot but allow falsity to give way to the truth, and truth to bring rightful comfort to the unborn.

....As bishops, we should have no illusions about the intent of some people who have shown more than a casual interest in the discord we have experienced within the Church this year. There are those outside the Church who are hostile to the very principles and teachings that the Church espouses, and have chosen this moment to advance the acceptance of practices and ways of life that the Church cannot and will never condone. Sadly, even among the baptized, there are those at extremes within the Church who have chosen to exploit the vulnerability of the bishops in this moment to advance their own agendas. One cannot fail to hear in the distance – and sometimes very nearby – the call of the false prophet, "let us strike the shepherd and scatter the flock." We bishops need to recognize this call and to name it clearly for what it is.

As bishops, we need to attend, thoughtfully and constantly, to the way in which the Council exhorted us to give both the religious and laity their rightful place and share in the mission of the Church. Much of the Council's intention has been identified and codified in Church law. Religious and laity assist us well in our chanceries and tribunals, and on our diocesan financial and pastoral councils. We should continue to encourage our pastors to ensure that their gifts are well recognized and called forth in their parishes. The opportunities for the laity to assist us are great and we need to seize upon them in order to fulfill effectively the mission the Lord has given us.

As president of our Conference during the past year, I have been particularly privileged to witness the extraordinary contribution of the religious and laity at the national level. I think first of the very talented lay men and women who serve us at the Conference in Washington, Miami and New York. I include here my own faithful lay colleagues in the Diocese of Belleville. I also acknowledge the very gifted laity who serve at our Catholic national organizations in the areas of health, disabilities, education and social services. In a special way, I want to express my thanks to the members of our recently established National Review Board for the generosity and expertise that they bring in assisting us in the protection of our children.








If you want to watch the bishops, you can access the EWTN coverage here.

If you want to pray for them, you might start by asking for the help of St. Martin of Tours, whose memorial we celebrate today.

Around 371, Tours chose him as its third bishop. He was unwilling to take the office; the people tricked him into visiting a sick person in the city and then took him to the church. His poor appearance did not impress the bishops who had come to assist at the election, but the people overruled their objections and Martin was consecrated on July 3, 371.

Good thing those lay people hadn't yet heard about what their proper (advisory only! ) place in the Church should be, isn't it?

In Phoenix, the bishop has acknowledged the extent of abuse cases in the diocese:

Bishop Thomas O'Brien on Saturday acknowledged for the first time publicly that about 50 priests, former priests and church employees have been accused of criminal sexual misconduct with minors in the Phoenix Diocese during the past 30 years.O'Brien also said the diocese has paid close to $2 million to settle "12 to 15" lawsuits involving sexual abuse or sexual harassment since he became bishop in 1982....O'Brien did not identify any of the accused, saying he was prevented from doing so because a grand jury is investigating the church's handling of sex-abuse allegations.But he said the numbers included church employees already convicted or acquitted, as well as "a large number" of "priests, teachers, coaches, janitorial employees, maintenance workers and lay ministers" who were accused of sex-related offenses that investigators later found to be "untrue or meritless."

From the LA Times (LRR), Jason Berry looks at the problems with the norms

By shifting power to canonical standards, the Vatican has unwittingly invited scrutiny of the church's core crisis: its lack of oversight capacity. Democracy is not holy, but canon law has nothing equivalent to independent prosecutors or watchdogs, like the General Accounting Office, which investigates the government for Congress. An egregious example of this deficiency in church governance happened at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, headed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. The body has historically monitored theologians.

In 1998, eight former seminarians of the Legion of Christ, a religious order admired by Pope John Paul II, accused the director, the Rev. Marcial Maciel Degollado, of sexually abusing them in Spain and Rome in the 1950s and '60s. The men tried for years to reach the pope, but he never responded to their letters.

The accusers, a Spanish priest and seven Mexican laymen, followed the Code of Canon Law to the letter, using experienced canon lawyers from Mexico City and the Vatican. They accused Maciel of forgiving their "sins" in confession. Abuse of the sacrament of penance is one of the most serious delicts, or crimes, in the canonical code, punishable by excommunication. Ratzinger allowed no testimony and aborted the proceeding in 1999. Last spring, when Brian Ross of ABC-TV's "20/20" approached the cardinal in front of his office in Rome, seeking comment on the case, Ratzinger slapped him on the wrist and refused to talk.

Such secretive tribunals are a medieval system prone to abuse, as Father John Bambrick learned. As a teenager, he was allegedly abused by Father Anthony Eremito. Emboldened by the survivors' movement, Bambrick learned that Eremito was a hospital chaplain in Texas and complained to Cardinal Edward Egan of the New York archdiocese, where Eremito had ministered for many years. Eremito resigned and was suspended from the active priesthood.

Not to be outdone, Eremito turned to Msgr. William Varvaro, a former president of the Canon Law Society of America and a member of the papal staff. Varvaro filed a canonical grievance against the young priest for violating Eremito's right to privacy. "Surreally, I was charged under 1717, the same canon used against perpetrators," said Bambrick. Although Bambrick's bishop cleared him after a secret investigation, Egan's lay review board will not allow the young priest to testify against the older priest who abused him and others.


Chiapas told: Still no more new deacons.

A top Vatican envoy told disappointed Indian Catholics on Sunday that the pope would not reverse a decision to suspend the training of lay Indian deacons in southern Chiapas for five years. Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, head of the Vatican's Congregation for Bishops, told the faithful that there are too many of the lay workers and not enough priests in the region.

"In all of the other 85 dioceses in Mexico combined there are less deacons than in Chiapas,' he said, alluding to the 344 deacons who work in this predominantly Indian region. What is missing, Battista Re said, is an effort to encourage the sons of deacons to study for the priesthood to lessen a shortage of Catholic clergy here.

Battista Re reiterated the church's position after a private meeting with about 40 local deacons, who gave him a letter asking Pope John Paul II to lift the suspension.



Several weeks ago, a local priest, now deceased was accused of sexual abuse by a woman, who said that the monsignor groped her repeatedly, starting when she was around ten or eleven.

Yesterday, the Diocese released a statement saying that her accusations were "credible" and the Bishop appeared at the parish in the little town just east of here where the man had been pastor for years.

Bennett said she has recently been in contact with other women who told her they too were abused by Ehrman as students at St. John the Baptist School."I really didn't know if there was anyone else," she said. "It was just not something at that time that you talked about." Bishop John D'Arcy left Sunday for the annual meeting of the United States Conference on Catholic Bishops in Washington, D.C., and could not be reached for comment. D'Arcy spent Saturday and Sunday in New Haven, attending three parish Masses at St. John the Baptist, the Catholic Communications office said.D'Arcy acknowledged the credibility of Bennett's claims during those Masses and expressed his and the diocese's sorrow, the office said. He also asked anyone else with allegations of abuse against Ehrman to contact diocesan Vicar General Father Robert Schulte.D'Arcy has been outspoken in regard to combating sexual abuse by Catholic priests. As an auxiliary bishop in Boston in 1984, he wrote a letter expressing his concerns about then-priest John Geoghan. Geoghan has since been defrocked and is accused of molesting more than 130 boys over 30 years.

Here's my own moment of connection with the story. A little over a week ago, I gave a couple of workshops on "How to Cope With Scandal In the Church" at my parish. At the end of one of the sessions, I asked for questions or further comments, and one older woman spoke up. She was, as it turns out, a niece of this accused priest, and she was accompanied to the session by her sister, another niece.

She told her story, telling the group how shocked, naturally enough, the family was by these accusations, and implying their contempt for this woman coming forth with the accusations. Her view, naturally enough, was that it was unthinkable. It was, to say the least, awkward and I couldn't manage more than sympathy for the family's pain and a hope that truth would be served.

Looks like it has been.

Sunday, November 10

From the NYTimes (LRR): Mel Gibson's filming his Jesus film in an Italian town, and everyone's excited

Ferdinando Irene, 29, a local salesman, stretched out his right arm as he delivered the heady news that he was in the running to be a "hand double" for the crucified Jesus. "They saw my hand," Mr. Irene said, examining it with newfound respect, "and they just called me over. They even took photos."

Months and months ago, when many concerns were being raised in St. Blogs about VOTF, someone - I think Maureen M -threw down the gauntlet and asked, quite reasonable, "Okay, what then?" Meaning - if the VOTF vision of reform wasn't okay with many who hang out at St. Blogs, waddyagonnadoaboutit, other than pray for holy bishops and priests?

This is, in fact, the stickiest question of all, and one that drives us batty because it forces us to come up against the very real and hard fact that there doesn't seem to be much we can do about it, other than write our letters and withhold our funds from miscreant dioceses.

It is a most frustrating position to be in.

What makes it all the more frustrating is the plain fact that we are being told to trust, trust, trust, and even other lay people are putting out the word - trust your shepherds. Take the long view, you know. Rome wasn't built in a day, nor was the Church.

And of course, in the end, we must - trust, that is. For in the Body of Christ, we must trust Jesus and take him at his word that he would be with us until the end of time. We must treat each other in a way that is open and honest about the potential of failure (i.e. not gullible or blindly trusting of others), but at the same time hopeful that the Spirit is working through us all.

It might be a good idea, at times like these, to read Vatican II's Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity.. Of course, the primary apostolate of the laity, often forgotten in the giddiness of the past four decades is, as the Decree states over and over, in the temporal order. It is unfortunate that in the rush to the sanctuary and to the rectory offices, we laity have so often forgotten this, and have been so ready and willing to take on the mantle of clerics without ordination. When I write this blog, I sometimes forget that the vast majority have not uh...been following my writing for the past ten years, so you aren't aware of my frequently stated views on this subject, views that I share from the perspective of someone who's actually been employed by the Church in many capacities. I think it's dreadful that over the past few decades, so many people have come to associate living out their baptismal vows with being "active in Church." I once was in a small group in which a woman went over the list of innumerable churchy activities she'd immersed herself in over the years, and wondered, at the end, why she still wasn't feeling as spiritually fulfilled as she ought. One of the few times (really) I've felt like marching out of Mass in the middle of a homily was on a Sunday morning on which a priest announced to the congregation that if they, upon leaving Mass, went out the door that would enable them to bypass the many tables set up by parish groups and organizations on this "Ministry Sunday," they may not call themselves "Catholic Christians."

This guy, by the way, had a side "ministry" of magic tricks. One of my students was his niece, and had the responsibility of taking care of his damn rabbits and birds. By the time she got to me, she hated the Catholic Church. And an increased role for laity is worse than that?

But I digress.

So yes, the role of the laity is primarily to leaven the world with the seeds of the Gospel. And if you read the Decree, you will be inspired, I think, and you will be struck by its practical wisdom. Of course. Just think if all the "Catholic" members of Congress took their responsibilities as Catholic laity seriously in the light of this document. If all the "Catholic" doctors, lawyers and educators did, too, not to mention business people.

But...

In the Church there is a diversity of ministry but a oneness of mission. Christ conferred on the Apostles and their successors the duty of teaching, sanctifying, and ruling in His name and power. But the laity likewise share in the priestly, prophetic, and royal office of Christ and therefore have their own share in the mission of the whole people of God in the Church and in the world.[2]

10. As sharers in the role of Christ as priest, prophet, and king, the laity have their work cut out for them in the life and activity of the Church. Their activity is so necessary within the Church communities that without it the apostolate of the pastors is often unable to achieve its full effectiveness. In the manner of the men and women who helped Paul in spreading the Gospel (cf. Acts 18:18, 26; Rom. 16:3) the laity with the right apostolic attitude supply what is lacking to their brethren and refresh the spirit of pastors and of the rest of the faithful (cf. 1 Cor. 16:17-18). Strengthened by active participation in the liturgical life of their community, they are eager to do their share of the apostolic works of that community. They bring to the Church people who perhaps are far removed from it, earnestly cooperate in presenting the word of God especially by means of catechetical instruction, and offer their special skills to make the care of souls and the administration of the temporalities of the Church more efficient and effective.

Now, I think I have to name a certain elephant wandering this room, although someone else might have done it one of the comments. Not to offend anyone, but the name of the elephant is Protestantism. When we start talking about an increased role for the laity in the decision-making, administrative aspect of church life, as opposed to (as I blogged below) in the expression of the Works of Mercy, we all start getting nervous. We start getting nervous because we look at the least hierarchical division of Christianity - Protestantism - and we see, well - division. We see denominations subdividing into sects and redividing into more sects. We see denominational assemblies frought with division and constant infighting about hot-button issues, mostly revolving around sexuality. We see churches splitting because of problems with clergy that they've hired, and then decided they didn't like anymore. And we get justifiably afraid that this is the only model for increased lay participation in decision-making available to us, and that is certainly not what we want for the future of our Church.

Nor do we want more of what we've seen in the past four decades in our own Church. We don't want more time-wasting commissions, boards and committees. We don't want obnoxious people with degrees from summer study programs marching in and ordering us to behave in liturgy in the way their professors taught them to tell us to behave. We don't want - we seriously don't want - any more layers of bureaucracy in the Church. We've got enough thank you, and we could even do without them.

But do you know what? I've got news for you.

Every one of those wacked out, heterodox summer programs is under the charge, ultimately, of a bishop.

Every one of those colleges and universities that are dumbing down their religion requirements, refusing to hang crucifixes in classrooms, hosting pro-abortion speakers and performances of Corpus Christi or The V - Monologues is under the purview of a bishop.

Every one of those flimsy, ridiculous religion textbooks that you gripe about was probably written in large part by a priest or a nun or both, and must, if it is used in your Catholic school, be approved by a bishop.

Every one of those Diocesean Liturgical Commissions that misinterprets directives from Rome was appointed by a bishop.

So, if we're griping about what we see as the malignant impact of the laity on the post-Vatican II church and sniping that this is the last thing we want more of, let's all think again. First of all, most of the problems - I'm sorry to say - originate with priests and religious. For every Swidler, in other words, I'll raise you a Chittister and a McBrien. Secondly, all of this - every bit of it - has occurred with bishops in charge, and believe me, they are still in charge if they want to be. The problem has not been lay involvement. I'm not even going to say, as some like to sniff that the problem is the "wrong" kind of laity. It makes my skin crawl to get into that kind of categorization - although I might feel it sometimes, I really have to check that feeling before it gets too far, because there's a name for it, and it's a sin: pride.

No, the problem is that the bishops haven't been taking their responsibilities seriously - and have not been exercising them in union with the spirit of Rome. Read the Documents of Vatican II. Good heavens, people - there is nothing in the spirit or intent of the Second Vatican Council that calls for bishops to allow Catholic universities to become secularized or Catholic spiritual programs to become NewAge-isized.

The problem is not lay involvement. The problem is bishops not guiding lay involvement in light of the Gospel.

So it seems to me if we understand all of that, look closely and take very seriously the difficult lessons provided to us by the experience of so many Protestant churches, and see lay involvement in decision-making in very specific terms in relation to specific issues in which lay exerptise is needed to assist the ordained, both in terms of the knowledge it brings as well as the effect of averting any temptations to clerical mutual protection or secrecy - we would have a much easier time of it.

And what does this mean, exactly? Well, it means what it has always meant: First, the primary lay apostolate in the temporal order. Secondly, the lay apostolate in organizing and living out the practice of the Works of Mercy, in every Church-sponsored effort from the Vincent de Paul Society to Catholic universities. Third, it means being a part of church structure and decision in making in ways that have, off and on through Church history, been, in part or even entirely - lay responsibility: Church finances, organizational maintenance and, to some extent - personnel decisions, particularly on the level of the episcopacy. The decision for appointing bishops should certainly be less secretive than it is now, and, as someone suggested many months ago, an interesting starter idea is the publication of a sort of "bann" for bishops - vetting names of potential bishops in public, asking lay Catholics, in an systematic way, to provide names of priests they believe to be good potential bishops (the latter is done in some areas, but not systematically).

Where is Bishop McCarthy?

Where is Bishop McCarthy?

For five months, this question has echoed across the Archdiocese of New York, referring not only to Bishop James McCarthy's whereabouts, but his very place within the life of the Roman Catholic Church.

Since McCarthy resigned on June 11 as an auxiliary bishop of the archdiocese and as a Shrub Oak pastor, having admitted to affairs with several women, the former top aide to Cardinal John O'Connor has essentially disappeared from official Catholic life. .....

....According to many people close to him, McCarthy, 60, is spending his days trying to figure out what to do with the rest of his life. He is living in a family-owned house in Hopewell Junction, having refused a directive from the Vatican's representative in America to do penance for an indefinite period at a Catholic institution in the Midwest

He stays in touch with priests and friends who are close to him, pops up at social gatherings now and then and, by all accounts, is trying to appear upbeat. He has been approached by at least one bishop outside of New York about taking a non-parish position and has received several feelers about private-sector jobs.....

.....Egan's steadfast position has been that McCarthy's fate is completely in the hands of the Vatican and its representative in America, Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo. Egan has told people who have privately questioned him about McCarthy's sudden fall that he had nothing to do with it....

....According to McCarthy associates and several New York priests, Montalvo told McCarthy during the summer to return to Michigan, where McCarthy had been briefly evaluated after his resignation, for an undefined period of penance. When McCarthy declined, Montalvo suggested that McCarthy no longer live within the boundaries of the archdiocese.
Yet McCarthy remains in Dutchess County. One Westchester priest suggested that McCarthy should have done more penance for his sins, regardless of whether he was treated properly by superiors.

"It doesn't look good for him to just be around," the priest said.




How Long Island priests are running interference between their irritated parishioners and their bishop

When Msgr. Vincent Rush took to the pulpit and unfolded his homily last week, worshipers at St. Hugh of Lincoln sensed something different was coming. The pastor usually speaks informally. Without notes. Standing at the steps in front of the altar. Using the day's poignant gospel from St. Matthew about the hypocrisy of church leaders, Rush said the readings "were an invitation to talk about the scandals of this past year." The existence of pedophiles in the priesthood, he said, and their repeated transfers to other parishes came as no surprise to him. The bishops stupidly ignored the problem, Rush continued, and now won't soon forget "the vivid and well-needed lesson" they learned.

But Rush went on to question whether they have learned the wider lesson of how their calling can be betrayed.

"Probably the most common failing among us priests, and among bishops, in today's church is a failure to respect the rights and gifts of the lay people ... " he said. Rush said Catholics are understandably conflicted about giving their money to the Diocese of Rockville Centre and their questions deserve to be answered first. Saying his worn rectory needed "a new kitchen and lots more," Rush called Bishop William Murphy's new $1-million residence a mistake. Murphy chose to renovate the top floor of the former convent at St. Agnes Cathedral, displacing several nuns.

But, Rush said, "The right way to deal with distress about the residence is to write him about it, not to stop giving to diocesan ministries." Murphy himself is trying to soothe the controversy by making a special appearance on Telecare and traveling throughout the diocese to meet with priests.



Bell-ringing in Australia.

I remember the first time I ever heard "real" bells - as opposed to electronic carillons. I think it was in downtown Milwaukee, around noon - bells rung out from several churches at once, and the sound was - sorry, got to say it - striking. Full. Real. Like the difference between real vigil candles and the little twinkling push-button things.

We need more teachers like this one.

Saturday, November 9

From the LATimes (LRR), a reasonable question: The Buck Stops Where?

Bishop Robert Brom of San Diego, chairman of the seven-member panel, said he does not foresee new rules or penalties for bishops who abuse their power or mishandle a crisis. Instead, Brom said, he envisions guidelines for more informal -- perhaps private -- rebukes among the bishops.One possibility would be to empower the church's 33 geographic provinces to confront errant bishops within their borders. The archbishop of Boston, for example, has limited supervision over six other bishops in Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.Whatever the final policy, Brom said any discipline or reprimand would encompass aspects of "fraternal support, fraternal challenge and even fraternal correction."


From the NYTimes, a Gallup poll claims that one out of five Catholics have decided to stop giving to their diocese as a result of the sexual abuse scandal

In the survey, about one in nine of the regular Mass-goers said they had been putting less money in their parish collection plate in the months since the abuse scandal began in January. About 3 percent of Catholics — mostly more affluent and conservative parishioners — reported increasing their parish giving.
The nation's 194 dioceses have been harder hit: 19 percent of those surveyed said they stopped supporting their diocese, with some saying they were diverting those donations to other Catholic causes. Charles E. Zech, a Villanova University economics professor who prepared the questionnaire and analyzed the survey results, said in an interview that he was surprised at the consensus among the most faithful Catholics that bishops should be required to make a full report on how much they have spent to respond to sexual abuse allegations. Seventy-nine percent of those surveyed called for such a report.


The Globe interviews McChesney

In an interview with the Globe, McChesney, 51, a lifelong Catholic, said her office would not call for resignations of bishops judged to have failed to adhere to the abuse policy. Instead, she said, her office would notify the bishops' conference when bishops or dioceses appeared to be in violation of the policy.Asked whether she would welcome changes to the policy, McChesney declined to comment, saying it would be inappropriate for her to weigh in on the bishops' ''work in progress.''''I don't think I have anything I can add about what I'd like to see or not see. These aren't my norms; they're the norms the bishops developed. So they have to be what they're comfortable with,'' said McChesney, a former Seattle police detective who joined the FBI in 1978 and became executive assistant director of the agency's law enforcement services division.She also declined to take a stance on whether the policy should include a statute of limitations for child sexual abuse, another controversial issue since most of the hundreds of recent allegations of clergy misconduct nationwide are too old, under traditional canon law rules, to be prosecuted. 'That's really difficult to say, because I do know that memories can fade and it's difficult to prosecute cases that are old,'' McChesney said. ''On the other hand, these are very serious crimes, and so you have to weigh that.''



From Westchester County, NY, an interesting look at Indian Christians in the US
In Cincinnati, a judge has extended the term of a grand jury investigating sexual abuse by clergy and church employees and in Louisville, a judge granted a three-month extension to a plaintiff's lawyer to provide answers to church inquiries
The Toledo paper talks to Dr. Janet Smith and Bethany and Sam Torode, advocates of Natural Family Planning.

Friday, November 8

My apologies if you've had trouble accessing the real inbetweennaps today. I don't know if some hacking's been going on, but I just changed my password,so I hope there won't be any more trouble.
Salon, naturally enough, has an article fretting about the consequences of Bush's judicial appointments for the holy writ called Roe v. Wade. A reader notes the article, and particularly the photograph accompanying it.

...the photo accompanying this article by Michelle Goldberg seems striking to me -- the left-hand foreground features an unborn child in a posture halfway between reclining against the photo's borders and flailing as if in fear of decisions being made inside the courthouse that looms in the background. This "fetus" is diaphanous, suffused with golden light, and at a stage of development where his/her humanity is, in visual terms, undeniable. I can't help but wonder whether NOW president Kim Gandy, who is quoted in the article as bemoaning the effect that potential Bush appointees might have on "the entire reproductive life" of her 9-year-old daughter, is angered by Salon's choice of such a picture, considering the impact it might have on those whose views on abortion are wavering.


Jeremy Lott has a piece on the ossuary and its implications (if authentic, that is) forCatholic and Orthodox beliefs about Mary's perpetual virginity

In fact, there are actually two orthodox views from antiquity: Jerome's view and the Epiphanian view. The first, held by St. Jerome, translator of the Latin Vulgate, is that listed above. It rests on the belief that, for some reason, every single New Testament writer who mentioned Jesus' "brothers" was unable to make the leap from Aramaic to proper koine ("common") Greek.

The second theory, advanced by Epiphanus of Salamis and believed by most of the Orthodox to this day, is that the "brothers" of Jesus are sons of Joseph by a previous marriage. Prof. McKellar adds that the Epiphanian view, which is found in two early apocryphal works--the Gospel of Peter and the Protoevangelium of James--finds some support today among non-Catholic (and non-Orthodox) scholars, and is well represented by the early Church fathers and in the Greek, Syrian and Coptic liturgies.

"Assuming for the sake of argument the accuracy of the find, this would only prove that Jerome was mistaken. Frankly, it wouldn't be the first time that Jerome got something wrong. The ossuary inscription still matches perfectly with the Epiphanian view that Joseph had children by a previous marriage before his marriage to the Virgin Mary. The 'brothers and sisters' of Jesus witnessed in the Gospels are, in this view, older stepbrothers and stepsisters," explains Prof. McKellar.

And then, referring back to the finders of the ossuary, he adds with a mischievous grin, "I want to know what they did with the bones."



A Mencken quote, sent along by a reader:

"The extortions and oppressions of government will go on so long as such bare fraudulence deceives and disarms the victims so long as they are ready to swallow the immemorial official theory that protesting against the stealings of the archbishop's secretary's nephew's mistress' illegitimate son is a sin against the Holy Ghost."



Lafayette bishop to retire

Bishop Edward O'Donnell of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lafayette said Friday he is retiring immediately and will be replaced in December by Bishop Michael Jarrell, now of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux.O'Donnell, 71, told Lafayette television station KLFY that health problems over the last few years contributed to his decision."It all started with a small stroke, then diabetes which I had for five or six years that got worse and I had to take insulin shots daily," O'Donnell said. "Approximately one year ago, I was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and my experience with Parkinson's may not be typical."


.."if HBO ever plans a joint episode of "Six Feet Under" and the "The Sopranos," this would be the storyline to follow."


Legion of Christ looking to open four-year college in Sacramento

A conservative Catholic order is moving forward with plans to build a private university in the Sacramento region and has been in serious discussions with city and county officials about where it could locate a campus.As its first step, the Legion of Christ wants to open a downtown graduate school with an eye toward establishing a four-year core campus in another location -- possibly at the former Mather Air Force Base.The group has secured the name "University of Sacramento," said Barry Sugarman, vice president of institutional development for the university project."We're committed to the Sacramento region," Sugarman said. "We're ready to go."...

In July, the Diocese of Sacramento paved the way for the Legion to locate in the region when Bishop William Weigand gave formal permission to develop a campus here."It has always been Bishop Weigand's dream to have a Catholic University in Sacramento," the Rev. Jim Murphy said Thursday. "We're tired of rooting for San Francisco (Catholic) teams. It's time we had our own."

Many thanks to Domenico Bettinelli for information about the simply amazing blind hubris of Planned Parenthood

Requiring kids under 18 to get parental consent before they can participate in a poster contest!!!!

(Continued)

It seems clear that something is needed to restore trust in the hierarchy in relation to clerical sexual abuse and, more importantly than appearances, to ensure that there are no past or present sexual abusers in the Roman Catholic priesthood.

The charter, the norms – what have you are intended to restore this trust and provide this assurance. But it seems to many that there are still too many potential loopholes – one of which none of us can do anything about – the lack of mutual episcopal accountability. That’s too bad, but that’s a fact. Some months ago, commenter Julia cited several canons related to grounds for examining and removing bishops. It would be fascinating, wouldn’t it, if notes reminding the faithful of the existence of those canons were inserted into the charter?

In my dreams, I know.

So anyway, in terms of the stated final goal, the norms do all we can hope for:

they assure us that a priest who has sexually abused a minor will not remain in ministry.

(A diocesan priest, that is. Religious order priests are another matter, and not under the purview of the USCCB)

When even a single act of sexual abuse by a priest or deacon is admitted or is established after an appropriate process in accord with canon law, the offending priest or deacon will be removed permanently from ecclesiastical ministry, not excluding dismissal from the clerical state, if the case so warrants

That seems clear, doesn’t it?

The new norms still call for a review board, but now, as many have noted, that board exists in an advisory capacity, which means, for the most part, they will be window-dressing, because that’s what advisory boards are. Can anyone give a counter-example?

So what worries some is this: given the advisory function of review boards, and given that the new norms do not mandate reporting unless the local civil law mandates, and given that diocesan lawyers can cook up all kinds of justifications grounded in church-state/confidentiality issues to do things like withhold files, and given the fact that the bishops are not really beholden to anyone, it seems as if there is still a trust gap. There is still too much wiggle room enabling some clerical sexual abusers to roam free, especially if their victims are reluctant to go to the civil authorities – which happens.

So, what I’m working my way around to is this: all through this, I’ve maintained that there are elements of this problem that are really beyond legislation. So much of this is up to us, up to those who are not officially involved in any process or board. It’s up to priests to police each other, and to say something and, more importantly, do something, when it becomes clear that a fellow priest is doing something wrong. It’s up to lay people who witness inappropriate or questionable behavior to, once again, say something or do something.

But we also have to have a process in place that engenders trust, and since for decades – centuries? – the clerical culture has shown itself incapable of doing this, we need a process that involves outsiders in meaningful roles.

That doesn’t mean that lay people should be deciding who remains in ministry or gets laicized. That is, truth be told, a matter between bishops and priests, and, if necessary the Vatican. It doesn’t mean that lay boards will be involved in the business of trying to figure out what was sexual abuse. I don’t think bishops should be doing this either – suspected or accused abusers should be reported to the law and to child and youth welfare authorities, and they should make these decisions.

(I’m rambling, I know – I’ve been distracted this morning by a sick baby, who is now, after emptying his stomach, crashed, snoring loudly, on the couch)

But I think that it’s absolutely necessary that some part of the process, some structure exist that functions as an unobstructed window between the workings of the church administration on this matter and the laity.

In this case, the root of mistrust, aside from the actions themselves, has been dishonesty and secretiveness. Therefore, it seems as if honesty and openness are the place to begin restoring trust. So then the “power” that a lay board should be given in order to assist rebuilding this trust and a safe environment is the power to pass on information.

It’s sort of like when you’re flying, and there’s a delay. What irritates people just as much as the delay is the airline’s dishonesty and secretiveness about the reason for the delay and their actual sense of when the plane’s going to take off, rather than the lies they put on the Departure board.

Same here. Just tell us. Empower - no – mandate that part of these lay boards’ responsibilities will be to compile a yearly report on the dioceses’ actions in regard to sexual abuse allegations. This will be an independent report, compiled and written by the board and widely publicized. Names named, actions taken honestly described, monetary amounts for settlements and status reports on accused clerics provided. Every year, for all to see.

Sure, there’s still room for hiding, but you know, there always will be, and face it, the buck always stops with the bishop and probably always will, especially since this is an issue that involves priests.

But we live in an age which we call the “Information Age” and it seems to me that since knowledge and information are power – if we want power within this process to rebuild trust and ensure safety – emphasizing the free flow of information is the place to start.

A look at the complicated work of the lay board in the diocese of Springfield, MA

Remember the priest arrested for drug involvement earlier this year? No, no, no - not the one down in Pensacola who used his Bourbon Street condo as a base for purchasing Ecstasy for resale back in the Panhandle. No, not that one. The other one - the one from Illinois arrested for helping to manufacture GHB or the "date rape" drug. You remember. Well, he was sentenced yesterday - to 70 months in prison.

Rev. Windy, the former pastor of St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Sheffield and of St. Margaret's Catholic Church in Wyanet, had more than 100 letters from his parishioners, friends and family submitted to Judge Vietor on his behalf. Judge Vietor allowed Rev. Windy to address the court before sentencing. He started reading from a prepared statement but broke down crying before he could finish. ``My childhood dreams have now been shattered,'' he read before stopping and sobbing uncontrollably. Some of his supporters in the crowd also started crying. Rev. Windy's attorney, Doug Scovil, read the rest of the prepared statement. In it, Rev. Windy said he didn't know how much impact he had on people's lives until he was in trouble with the law. ``This is truly a nightmare for everyone,'' said Mr. Scovil while reading from the priest's statement. ``The last 10 months have been the darkest of my life. My fate as a priest is still to be determined after this is over.''

Mr. Scovil said Rev. Windy first got addicted to the drug when he was using it as a body-building supplement. He said Rev. Windy was an avid weight lifter who accidentally became addicted to GHB. During a brief statement to Judge Vietor, Mr. O'Brien said the men never used the drug with the intent to commit rape. He said the drug was legal when he first started using it in March 2000, and that he later became addicted.

In his statement, Rev. Windy apologized for his actions but said he didn't agree with the federal court's use of sentencing guidelines instead of the judge's discretion to decide the sentence. He faced 70 to 87 months in prison under those guidelines. Rev. Windy also bashed the media for focusing on his case, claiming they unfairly hold priests to a higher standard. Shortly before that, Rev. Windy admitted he embarrassed his parishioners and other members of the Catholic church with his actions. Many of Rev. Windy's actions were detailed in a 10-page document that was inadvertently filed in court in September. The document, sealed a day after it was filed, was in response to the pre-sentence investigation for the priest. In the document, Mr. Scovil said the priest allowed Mr. O'Brien to make the drug at the church rectory. Records from Barton Solvents in Bettendorf show it sold 25 gallons of GBL, a chemical used to make GHB, to St. Patrick's, according to court documents. Those records specifically refer to Rev. Windy. In the document, Rev. Windy said he attended parties at Mr. O'Brien's home in Davenport in March, September and November 2001. According to a timeline contained in the document, Rev. Windy became addicted to GHB and cocaine supplied by Mr. O'Brien. The timeline said that in December 2000, Mr. O'Brien told Rev. Windy he lost his job at a shoe company that allowed him to acquire a chemical used to make GHB. It said that if the minister did not allow them to make GHB in the church rectory, Mr. O'Brien planned to tell Rev. Windy's superiors in the church about his use of cocaine and GHB. In the documents, Rev. Windy admitted adding chemicals to make GHB on one occasion, but was unsuccessful.

A reader writes:

The idea of input from the laity can be rattling -- but can it be more unsettling than the McBriens, Weaklands, McCormacks, Chittisters of this world? -- aw heck, I gotta stop before I ruin my Friday!

I think you've hit on it -- buried in this morass is a laity wakeup call.Not just a call to add one more meeting to the daytimer or put our $.02 worth in to the bishop on some committee reeking self-importance but to examine our lives for how we respond to the call to discipleship in all things. I believe our assent to grapple with daily holiness will be the source of credibility in dialogue with the hierarchy. With the present
crisis of integrity in our leadership, lay must challenge lay, not just rely on the call from above.One can only hope!


A nice article from the LATimes (LRR) on the difference that a generous couple has made to an inner-city Catholic school.
A bit more detail on Kathleen McChesney

McChesney, 51, has served since December 2001 as the FBI's executive assistant director for law enforcement services. FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III created that job to improve cooperation between federal and local law enforcement agencies in the wake of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.McChesney joined the FBI in 1978 after seven years as a police detective in Seattle. She rose through the bureau to head its field offices in Chicago and Portland, Ore., and also served as assistant director of the training division in Quantico, Va.

Could a Religious Freedom Restoration Act be used to protect abusing clergy from the civil law?

This columnist says "yes", but this responder says she's overstating the case.

Thursday, November 7

(Read previous blog to see where this begins)

Since trust is the issue, and what we are after is a process that is trustworthy no matter who is in charge, the next question, it seems to me, is – is the current way of organization of the Church a help or hindrance to that process?

What we’re talking about is specifically a structure of leadership that is essentially ordained, composed of pope, bishops and priests. Body of Christ, People of God, yadda, yadda. All true. But do you know what? Take away all the parish councils and lay employees and what do you have? You still have the clerics arrayed in their hierarchical splendor. You still have your church leadership. When you get down to the nitty gritty, in terms of church governance, that’s the bottom line.

It seems to many that the specific organization of the hierarchy at this moment in time is, indeed, a hindrance to a transparent process of response to clerical sexual abuse. The reasons are simple, for they are the same reasons that any group, whether they be priests, fire fighters, doctors, teachers or nuns tend to close in on themselves: protection of their own and the reputation of the vocation.

And the question is – how to overcome that in terms of the Catholic clerical culture?

There are many suggestions, some doable, some not. Married priests would surely infuse a new spirit into the Catholic priesthood, it’s said. Making sure that there were no homosexuals admitted into the priesthood would eliminate the widely acknowledged gay subculture in the priesthood, one that leads to a great deal of secret-keeping and explicit and implicit blackmail, it’s said.

Well, maybe. Well, maybe not. But in either case, that’s not what the bishops are about next week, and not what’s in their area of responsibility at the moment.

Two possible angles of action remain, then:

Involving the laity in the process and mandating sanctions for bishops who fail to follow the process and allow sexual abusers to remain in ministry.

The first possibility seems reasonable and necessary, but even so, it sends waves of fear through the wary souls of some. They fear that the wrong people will be involved – either those with a radical agenda, or those who are nothing but yes-people for the episcopacy. They fear a dilution of decision making in the Church.

After all, take a look at your parish council. Good people, indeed. But do you really want the likes of the duly elected parish council of St. Grandiose telling the rest of the diocese – including you – what to do? And, as Kenneth Woodward pointed out in his recent speech at Boston College, given the wretched state of theological understanding among most adult Catholics, it is dangerous to speak unthinkingly of handing decision making responsibilities over to those who have only the most tenuous understanding of faith, and what understanding they have is, for the most part, firmly grounded in 2002, with little historical perspective.

But…on the other hand…there are some who are out there arguing that to involve the laity in the process, and to give them real power – for the sake of checks and balances and keeping the episcopacy honest and transparent – is a violation of some sort of immutable tradition of Church leadership in which no one except the ordained have made decisions about church administration.

Well, there is no such immutable, consistent tradition.

Certainly, what has not changed is the sense that the ordained, as heirs to the apostles, are gifted with the responsibility of faithfully transmitting the Gospel and administering the sacraments. It is through their ministry and service that this is accomplished, nourishing the rest of us to do our own part in following Christ and ministering to others. But…

When it comes to the business of church-building and maintaining, woven into the frankly monarchical tradition of leadership are, all along, in and out, sometimes stronger than others, the laity, playing a role, not just in the institutions dedicated to the works of mercy (schools, hospitals, service to the poor, devotional life), but also in the leadership of the backbone to it all – the diocesan and parish structure of the Church. The laity have played roles in selecting bishops and calling men to priesthood. Lay rulers have convened church councils and dismissed them. Lay rulers have appointed bishops and dismissed them. Groups of laypeople have started parishes from the ground up, purchasing land, building the church and calling in a priest to serve. Granted, some of this “lay involvement” is not anything we would desire today, coming, as it did, out of decidedly non-democratic societies and cultures that were perfectly comfortable with an organic understanding of the relationship between church and state. But the fact is – it is there. It is there in our past, it is there in our tradition. Lay people have not been simply paying, praying and obeying for the past 2,000 years. Central to the life of the lay baptized is, of course, the apostolate to witness to Christ in the world, in the family, in every aspect of every day life. But – it is so important to know and understand this – lay involvement in church administration on the parish and diocesan level – involvement with a meaningful role - with yes, I’ll go ahead and say it – power – is not a new idea nor one that is unheard of in our tradition.

So to scoff at the possibility of involving laity in the process of protecting children and youth from clerical sexual abusers in a way that is meaningful and real is not only unfair – it is ignorant.

To be continued….


Every issue, every argument has a subtext.

When my children argue about a piano practice or time in front of the computer (theirs, not mine) our discussion is not just about the issue at hand. It’s usually about something else, too: who’s in charge here? Why can’t I make my own choices on how to use my own time? (that’s them, not me…no, that’s all of us).

As we trudge towards the bishops’ meeting in Washington next week, and eight months of astonishing and disheartening revelations come to a climax of sorts, we’re looking at a policy, but we’re also looking at a subtext.

Can we trust you?


Some would say that the real subtext is power, but after mulling this over, I think I disagree. Power comes into it, certainly, but I think in the end, most Catholics would be satisfied with almost any permutation of ecclesial power structure if they felt that they could trust the goals and the process. That is, if they trusted that the bishops were committed to the goal of ridding the priesthood of sexual predator, and to a process that put truth first, no matter what the cost.

Now. How is that to be done? At one level, the specific structures make no difference. An autocratic bishop who makes all of decisions, from the diocesan budget to the plants in the chancery waiting room, completely on his own with not a smidgen of input from any councils, committees or boards, could conceivably, drum any abusive priests that come to his attention out of ministry and push them, with the help of the law, right into prison. It could happen.

Likewise, the most collegial - sounding bishop in the world could conceivably be protecting predators in his diocese, even as he listens to the ruminations of a lay review board, even as he invites sexual abuse experts to give workshops to his priests, even as he nails a “policy” to the cathedral door. He could do this in any number of ways, and he could do it because chances are there’s no one to punish him for it.

The question is, given the fact that a bishop doesn’t need a policy to get rid of predators and the fact that a bishop can get around a policy, what can we come up with that lifts the process above the whims of an individual bishop and insures the compliance of an individual bishop?

We’ve learned that although we would like to trust our bishops on this, we can’t. Sorry gentleman, it’s just a fact. What we want is a trustworthy process that will work, no matter who this bishop is.

And the answer, in the end, doesn’t lie with any particular arrangement of power between laity and ordained. It lies with that now overused, yet fascinating word – “transparency.” Absoluteness openness on this issue is the only way to restore and maintain trust.

So, it seems to me, what we should be thinking about, and evaluating these policies on, is its fidelity to the Gospel. And the Gospel tells us the story of our Savior, who calls Himself the Way, the Truth and the Life. Truth. How effective is this policy in ensuring that truth is attended to in a diocese, no matter who’s in charge?

To be continued....

A very nice article about Catholic blogging in the November 8 issue of Commonweal. It's not online yet, but I'll link it when it is.

From Ann Coulter today:

Democrats may be forced to shut down operations as a party and re-enter politics under a different name. The party formerly known as "the Democratic Party" will henceforth be doing business under the name "the Abortion Party." That would have the virtue of honesty. Love of abortion is the one irreducible minimum of the Democratic Party. Liberals don't want to go to war with Saddam Hussein, but they do want to go to war to protect Roe v. Wade

It's official:

Bishops name watchdog:

Kathleen McChesney will be named director of the Office for Child and Youth Protection, a critical post as the bishops try to re-establish their credibility after a year in which at least 300 of the 46,000 American priests have been removed because of allegations of sex abuse. McChesney's appointment was to be announced by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops at a Thursday afternoon news conference.Justice Anne Burke, an Illinois appellate judge and vice chair of the National Review Board, confirmed the appointment in a telephone interview. She said McChesney was chosen from a pool of more than 50 applicants.....But the Rev. Robert J. Silva, president of the National Federation of Priests' Councils, said he was concerned by the board's choice of a federal investigator. Silva has been among Catholics who believe the bishops' approach to accused priests since the crisis began has been too punitive and has ignored Catholic teaching on redemption."I hope that she will be able to balance that aggressive investigative side with a sense of church discipleship and the mission of reconciliation," said Silva, whose organization represents about half of U.S. priests.

No. God forbid we be aggressive in investigaing sexual abuse by clergy. We don't want the clergy to be ...concerned.

I'll be on The Great Grand Popcak's radio show today at 2pm eastern, talking about the election results. Because, you know, I'm such an expert.
At the moment, I'm working on a book proposal tha I really want to complete this week, but I also have a vast pre-bishop's meeting post in mind, churning around in my head, competing for attention, drawing on your thoughts on the new draft, Fr. Doyle's reaction, and your reaction to his reaction. Maybe I'll get to it today - I hope so, for my own brain's sake. It's starting to experience serious strain.

Okay, now this is getting bad.

Diocese of Fresno will not give its usual donation to Catholic Charities this year - because, it says, of the stock market.

The diocese usually gives $150,000 to Catholic Charities USA to buy food and help more than 75,000 people with medical, utility and rent bills from Bakersfield to Merced.Catholic Charities also helps support immigration, refugees, senior citizens, health and youth services programs, including Big Brothers and Big Sisters, and a halfway house in Bakersfield.Bishop John T. Steinbock said funds also have been cut for cathedral restoration, KNXT-TV, and capital improvements in poorer parishes.

So. They're not spending money on the poor or on poor parishes. So what are they spending money on?

From Pittsburgh, a story about a spirituality center run by Sisters of Divine Providence

Nestled above the bustle of Babcock Boulevard between the Sisters of Divine Providence provincial house and La Roche College, the center is owned and operated by the Sisters of Divine Providence, a community of nuns who offer a variety of programs to promote spirituality and holistic health.

Their mission statement puts it simply: "Kearns Spirituality Center invites people of all faiths, searching for a deeper meaning in their lives, to experience an environment dedicated to the renewal and revitalization of the human spirit."

Last year, 7,251 people participated in various programs at the nonprofit center, ranging from holistic healing and meditation groups to retreats for engaged couples to spiritual conventions during which not a word is spoken for days.

One of the programs offered is Reiki, an ancient Japanese healing art performed by the laying on of hands. Yoga and tai chi classes incorporate movement and meditation, but the real focus of the center is to help people deepen their relationship with God.



According to the first item in this column from the Chicago Sun-Times the former chief of the FBI in Chicago is about to get a new job:

Kathleen McChesney, Chicago's former FBI chief, is entering the pedophile priest fray. Word is McChesney, a lifelong Roman Catholic, will become a guardian of Catholic youth.Translation: Watch for McChesney, who occupies one of the highest positions in the FBI as executive assistant director of law enforcement, to be named the new executive director of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Office for Child and Youth Protection.
"It's a huge job being given big teeth," a source said. "McChesney's job will be to set up the system to investigate whether Catholic bishops are complying with the sex abuse policy established by the conference's National Review Board charter. Her office is also mandated to put in place a safe environment for children in the 195 dioceses throughout the United States."

Also, apropos of nothing except a lingering leer, there's a totally predictable item at the bottom of the column about a totally predictable former POTUS.

And now, also from the the Pro-Life Infonet, a look at state-level races from the prolife perspective:

Other than in Minnesota, perhaps the biggest upset election victory came in Georgia, where pro-life candidate Sonny Perdue defeated pro-abortion incumbent Roy Barnes and in South Carolina where pro-life former Congressman Mark Sanford toppled incumbent pro-abortion Gov. Hodges.

In Hawaii, former Maui Mayor Linda Lingle (R) has defeated Lt. Gov.
Mazie Hirono (D) 52% to 47%. Lingle's victory is expected to prevent Hawaii from becoming the second state to legalize assisted suicide.


Hawaii's outgoing governor supported a bill legalizing the grisly practice that passed the state House and lost in the state Senate by only two votes. Lingle has promised to veto a bill that permits assisted suicide.

Unfortunately, there were some key losses to take some of the luster off the Congressional election victory. Pro-life Wisconsin Governor Scott McCallum, hurt by a third-party candidacy, lost to pro-abortion state attorney general Jim Doyle.

Several pro-life candidates for Governor were turned back by voters Tuesday night, including Tennessee, where pro-abortion candidate Phil Bredensen defeated pro-life Congressman Van Hilleary.


In Illinois, pro-abortion attorney general candidate Lisa Madigan won a narrow election. Madigan has promised to attack crisis pregnancy centers in the state.


Pro-life advocates generally fared well in state legislative contests.Nebraska Right to Life director Julie Schmit Albin said in a statement that pro-life lawmakers will enjoy a three to five seat gain in the state's unicameral legislature. All of the candidates in the election victories oppose research that involves the destruction of human life, which has become a key issue in the state legislature. Pro-life advocates also made gains at the NU Board of Regents.

Legislative pro-life victories will have a profound effect on pro-life legislation in Wisconsin.Wisconsin Right to Life executive director Barb Lyons said, "the 2002 elections resulted in a net gain of 4 right to life seats in the State Senate." Lyons indicated her state gained two pro-life lawmakers at the state House level.

In Tennessee, Pro-lifers swept every contested race in the state Senate with only one endorsed candidate losing. In the State House, pro-life Tennesseans now hold 51 solid pro-life votes (37 Republicans and 14 Democrats) to 27 solid pro-abortion votes. Twelve more members hold "mixed" records but can be reliably expected to lean pro-life.

Nearly 82% of West Virginians for Life Political Action Committee's endorsed candidates were victorious in their election bids. In fact, sixteen of seventeen Senate candidates elected Tuesday are pro-life.

Alaska Right to Life executive director Karen Vosburgh told the Pro-Life Infonet her organization lost two pro-life votes in the state Senate but gained four in the state House, including the election of a former Alaska Right to Life president.

Highlights of key races for Governor:

Alaska: Pro-life Sen. Frank Murkowski (R) defeated pro-abortion Lt. Gov. Fran Ulmer (D) 56% to 41%.

Arizona: Although votes are still being processed, it appears that pro-abortion state Attorney General Janet Napolitano (D) defeated pro-abortion former Rep. Matt Salmon (R) 47% to 44%.

Arkansas: Pro-life Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) defeated pro-abortion state
Treasurer Jimmie Lou Fisher (D) 53% to 47%.

California: Pro-abortion Gov. Gray Davis (D) defeated pro-life candidate Bill Simon (R) 48% to 42%.

Colorado: Pro-life Gov. Bill Owens (R) defeated pro-abortion candidate Rollie Heath (D) 63% to 33%.

Illinois: Pro-abortion Rep. Rod Blagojevich (D) defeated pro-life
state Attorney General Jim Ryan (R) 52% to 45%.

Kansas: Pro-abortion candidate Kathleen Sebelius (D) defeated pro-life state Treasurer Tim Shallenburger (R) 53% to 45%.

Maryland: Rep. Robert Ehrlich (R), who votes mostly pro-life, defeated pro-abortion Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend (D) 51% to 48%.


Michigan: Pro-abortion Attorney General Jennifer Granholm (D) defeated pro-life Lt. Gov. Dick Posthumus (R) 51% to 48% with 97% of precincts reporting.


Minnesota: Pro-life State House Majority Leader Tim Pawlenty (R) defeated pro-abortion state Senate Majority Leader Roger Moe (DFL) 45% to 36%.


New Mexico: Pro-abortion Rep. Bill Richardson (D) defeated pro-life state Rep. John Sanchez (R) 57% to 38%.

Ohio: Pro-life Gov. Bob Taft (R) defeated pro-abortion candidate Tim Hagan (D) 58% to 38%.

Oregon: Pro-abrotion state Supreme Court Justice Ted Kulongoski (D) defeated pro-life state Rep. Kevin Mannix (R).


Pennsylvania: Former Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell (D), who is pro-abortion, defeated pro-life state Attorney General Mike Fisher (R) 53% to 45%.


South Dakota: Pro-life state Sen. Mike Rounds (R) defeated pro-abortion candidate Jim Abbott (D) 57% to 42%.

Wisconsin: Pro-abortion candidate Jim Doyle (D) defeated pro-life Gov. Scott McCallum (R) 45% to 41%.


This summary of the election results from a pro-life perspective is courtesy of the Pro-life Infonet which doesn't, to my knowledge, have this sort of information on a webpage, but sends it out in a daily e-mailing that's well worth the five seconds it takes to sign up for. I'm not going to italicize it because it's long:

Pro-life candidates held on to or won Senate seats including eight of the ten top Senate races in the country. In contrast, EMILY's List, the pro-abortion political group, lost 17 of their 22 top races.

Congressional races were also kind to pro-life advocates."Two-thirds of the newly elected House members are pro-life. Once again, the pro-life issue has proved to be a winning issue for candidates."Exit polling conducted by the Fox News Channel revealed the pro-life position continues to help candidates at the polls.

Abortion appeared to be a major factor in the election of pro-life candidate Jim Talent in the Missouri Senate race. According to exist surveys conducted by the Fox News Channel, voters picked abortion as the second most important issue on which they based their vote. Of those voters, approximately 80 percent chose pro-life candidate Talent over pro-abortion Senator Jean Carnahan. "It would certainly be fair to say Sen. Carnahan was defeated on the pro-life issue," explained Doug Johnson, legislative director for National Right to Life.

In both the Georgia Senate and Governor races, where pro-lifers Saxby Chambliss and Sonny Perdue won upset victories, nine percent of voters based their decision mostly on the abortion issue. Chambliss received 73 percent of
the vote of those voters in his race and Perdue 65 percent of the abortion voters in his victory.

Approximately 14 percent of Minnesota voters said abortion was their
top issue -- third highest of all political issues. There, pro-life candidate Norm Coleman had a 81-17 percent edge over pro-abortion candidate Walter Mondale and abortion voters gave pro-life gubernatorial-nominee Tim Pawlenty a 76 to 9 percent edge over his nearest foe.

Pro-life Democratic candidates also fared well.
In Maine, pro-life State Sen. Mike Michaud (D) defeated pro-abortion candidate Kevin Raye (R) 52% to 48%. Pro--life Democrat Lincoln Davis won the race to represent a Tennessee congressional district. And in Louisiana, a pro-life Democrat Rodney Alexander will advance to the December runoff in another district.

Highlights of key Senate election results:

Arkansas: Pro-abortion Attorney General Mark Pryor (D) defeated pro-life Sen. Tim Hutchinson (R) 54% to 46%.

Colorado: Pro-life Sen. Wayne Allard (R) defeated pro-abortion candidate Tom Strickland (D) 51% to 45%.

Georgia: Pro-life Rep. Saxby Chambliss (R) defeated pro-abortionSen. Max
Cleland (D) 53% to 46% with 99% of precincts reporting.

Iowa: Pro-abortion Sen. Tom Harkin (D) defeated pro-life Rep. Greg Ganske (R) 54% to 44%.

Louisiana: Pro-abortion Sen. Mary Landrieu (D) will run against pro-life state Election Commissioner Suzanne Haik Terrell (R) in a Dec. 7 runoff election. Landrieu captured 46% of the vote, while Terrell garnered 27%.

Minnesota: Pro-life candidate Norm Coleman (R) defeated pro-abortion former Vice President Walter Mondale (D) 50% to 48%

.Missouri: Pro-life Rep. Jim Talent (R) defeated pro-abortion Sen. Jean Carnahan (D) 50% to 49%.

New Hampshire: Pro-life Rep. John Sununu (R) defeated pro-abortion Gov. Jeanne Shaheen (D) 51% to 47%.

New Jersey: Pro-abortion ex-Senator Frank Lautenberg (D) defeated mixed-record candidate Douglas Forrester (R) 54% to 44%.

North Carolina: Pro-life candidate Elizabeth Dole (R) defeated pro-abortion candidate Erskine Bowles (D) 54% to 45%.

Oregon: Pro-life Sen. Gordon Smith (R) defeated pro-abortion Oregon Secretary of State Bill Bradbury (D) 58% to 38%.

South Carolina: Pro-life Rep. Lindsey Graham (R) defeated pro-abortion
candidate Alex Sanders (D) 54% to 44%.

South Dakota: Pro-abortion Sen. Tim Johnson (D) defeated pro-life Rep. John Thune (R) y a narrow margin.


Texas: Pro-life Attorney General John Cornyn (R) defeated pro-abortion candidate Ron Kirk (D) 55% to 43%.

Wednesday, November 6

This Sunday, the ABC program The Practice tackles the Situation (NYTimes - LRR)

With his series "The Practice" set in Boston and featuring two characters identified as Catholics, David E. Kelley, the Emmy-winning television writer, said he realized for a long time that he probably had the ideal forum on television in which to address the priest sex abuse scandal that has rocked the Catholic Church and especially the Archdiocese of Boston.

But in this case he was convinced he could not follow the standard television formula of walking a line to steer clear of controversy, presenting, as he said in an interview, "the arguments of the two different sides to provide balance." With this issue Mr. Kelley said, "There is no balance, it's just an atrocity." Looking to avoid a case that pits a priest against a victim, which numerous shows have done, Mr. Kelley invented a case in which a man who had been raped by a priest as a teenager sues a childhood friend for endorsing the priest as a counselor even though the friend himself had previously been raped by him. .....

......The debate is augmented by Donnell's conversation with the other Catholic lawyer in the firm, Jimmy Berluti. Berluti is played by Michael Badalucco, who is Catholic himself. Mr. Kelley said he incorporated Mr. Badalucco's personal views, almost word for word, in a speech arguing against leaving the church.

"It would be like leaving God," Berluti says. "The church is not just the priests. It's you and me. We are the church."

To his and the parish priest's arguments that media coverage has tarred good priests and the charitable works done by the church, Donnell says: "What can you say? Molestation gets a bad rap? I don't look to the church like it's the United Way. For me it's about spiritual and moral leadership."

Mr. Kelley said his purpose was "to put the question out there" — Can Catholics adequately express their rage without quitting the church? The show does not specifically mention the Boston cases and the criticism of Cardinal Bernard F. Law's handling of offending priests, though Donnell does make a reference to a "Father Shane" who was sent to California, "with praise."

The mention refers to the Rev. Paul R. Shanley, one of the accused priests who was protected by the Boston Archdiocese. The script originally included the real name. "That was an edit by standards and practices," Mr. Kelley said, referring to the company's censors, who did not want to use real names. Otherwise the ABC standards department said, it had no problem with the episode.

Mr. Kelley is not leaving the issue Sunday night. He said the conflict over the baby's baptism would continue for several episodes. Next week Donnell finds himself representing an accused child molester, and the parish priest he confronted so angrily shows up and calls him on it.