There's an interesting abuse allegation case going on in Massachusetts. A priest has been accused of sexual abuse, but the incidents took place years before he was a priest, when he was working with drug addicts. The priest denies the accusations, and, of course, the parish
rallies in support. This is what caught my attention:
Mr. Sharry passed out copies of a letter to Bishop Reilly that read in part: “Ironically, Father Coonan, as an example of his own faith, has told his congregation during his weekly homilies that for many years before his ordination he was not even a practicing Catholic, missing Sunday Mass on a regular basis, about as far removed from the laws of the Catholic Church as a lay person could possibly be. ...
In other words, the man apparently had lived badly, then turned his life around and eventually become a priest.
Some thoughts on this: First, I certainly hope that priests aren't going to be removed for acts they did when they weren't even Christian. But secondly, I can understand the diocese's need to remove him during the investigation - it is absolutely necessary that they do so, and conduct their own investigation to make sure that his conversion all those years ago had, indeed, been authentic, and nothing had happened since. Third, I am not convinced that rallies, ribbons and such are what a parish should be about here. There is always the possibility, as much as we hope there isn't, that this priest engaged in inappropriate acts after ordination. The diocese should be given the opportunity to investigate this in a calm, reasoned atmosphere. And as I've said many times, if parishioners want to write their letters in support, fine..but I am always distressed to see this focus on their priest become the center of parish energy. Aren't there other things on which to expend enormous amounts of energy?