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Sisters church grapples with national scandal
By Jim Cornelius

Local Catholics confronted the sexual abuse scandal that has rocked the church in recent weeks at a meeting on Friday, April 5, at St. Edward the Martyr Catholic Church in Sisters.

Many of the approximately 70 people attending the meeting expressed deep anger at the church hierarchy for allowing priests accused of molesting youth to continue for years in the priesthood.

Others wondered whether the Catholic Church is being singled out and placed under intensive scrutiny for a problem that cuts across all denominations and society at large.

Father Thomas Faucher, who led the discussion, emphasized the need for reform in the church. He argued that there is something systematically wrong with the way the church handled cases of molestation by priests.

"Every time abuse occurred, it was looked at as an exceptional case," Faucher said. "When you look at something that happens over and over again as an exceptional case, then somebody is not looking at things right."

Some parishioners questioned whether the same church hierarchy that "covered up" abuse scandals can be trusted to reform the system.

"It's my impression that the church gravitates toward sweeping its problems under the carpet," said one Bend man.

Faucher agreed that some of the hierarchy made stupid and wrong decisions. Bernard Cardinal Law of Boston, an epicenter of the scandal, is a case in point. Law has apologized for mishandling the case of former priest John Geoghan, who was accused of multiple molestations over a period of many years.

"I think Cardinal Law should resign," Faucher said. "He blew it."

According to Faucher, the key to reform is a more active and involved laity.

"If the lay people of the church want a different kind of accountability, they have to stand up for it," Faucher said. "Instead, the laity tends to complain a lot and do very little."

Faucher also noted that societal and law enforcement approaches to sexual abuse have changed over the years. Many of the current scandals involve decades-old cases that were handled with less understanding of the problem.

Prevailing wisdom in past years was that talking about sexual abuse or pursuing the matter in a public, legal forum would only traumatize the victim further.

This, Faucher said, was "the worst advice that could possibly be."

And, Faucher noted, the church often focused far more of its concern on the molesting priest than on the victim.

"This was the biggest mistake the church made," Faucher said. "We tended to focus all our attention and all our concern on the priest who did it, not on the person who was violated."

While the sexual abuse and the failures of the church hierarchy were condemned in strong terms, some of those attending the meeting were concerned that the rights of the accused could be trampled or that innocent men could be tainted forever.

That is particularly problematic in cases of abuse dating back many years, where evidence is sketchy.

The danger of ruining the accused unjustly is very great in cases of alleged sexual abuse, Faucher noted. The stain of an accusation never goes away, even if it is never proven -- even if it is false.

"With this subject, you are guilty even if you're proven innocent," Faucher said.

One woman expressed concern that accusations of a "cover up" and anger at the church hierarchy could do more harm than good.

"We need to be really careful about saying what will actually cause harm, rather than help," she said.

Faucher acknowledged that decisions by the church hierarchy to move accused priests and to keep accusations quiet were almost certainly not made with ill intent. He argued that wrong decisions can be criticized without attacking the individuals who made them.

However, Faucher insisted, they must be accountable.

Perhaps the most poignant question raised at the meeting was how the damage to the faith can be addressed --especially for young people who seek spiritual fulfillment but are wary of the church.

Faucher said that it is important that people be reminded that the molesting priests are a small minority in a very large church and that their behavior is "certainly not the essence of the church."

The Catholic Church always acknowledges that it is a church of sinners.

"If you're looking for a perfect church, don't stop here, because we're not," Faucher said. "The problem is, you're not going to find it anywhere."

Ultimately, Father Faucher said, Catholics must "make a distinction between our faith in God and our faith in the Church. God is a little better off than the Church right now."

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