By Claire Parsons
Cardinal sin
Even though I was raised Catholic and attended Catholic school from first to 12th grade, there are some things about the Church that are still mysterious to me. This mystery surrounding the Church is, I believe, intentional. The events in the Archdiocese of Boston in the past months have been a challenge to this notorious secrecy. Lawsuits have sprung up from over 450 plaintiffs with complaints of sexual molestation by priests. Cardinal Bernard Law has played the role of villain and conspirator to keep these complaints quiet, but now he is taking on a new identity. It seems that Cardinal Law has been taking notes from leaders of the business world; Sunday, a report in The Boston Globe stated that Cardinal Law and his attorneys are considering filing for chapter eleven bankruptcy. Doing so would be beneficial for the archdiocese for two reasons; first, it would make it impossible for new lawsuits to be filed, and second, it would allow more records to be kept secret from the public.
In America, we are used to seeing huge corporations filing for bankruptcy to avoid the comeuppance they so richly deserve from the little people they have so willingly trampled over. The 800-pound gorillas of the tobacco industry, insurance, telecommunications, and financial advising companies have all used chapter eleven to avoid paying what they owe and telling what they know. Cardinal Law’s lawyers are prudent to have suggested bankruptcy as an alternative for the archdiocese; however, they are also slimeballs for the same reason. While it makes sense to follow the actions of corporations that were in a precarious situation similar to that of the Archdiocese of Boston, one must not forget that corporations exist to make millions of dollars, but the Catholic Church is supposed to exist to provide religious leadership to millions of people.
Sure, bankruptcy would be the financially responsible action for Cardinal Law to choose. On the contrary, it would also be the morally reprehensible one. The Catholic Church requires of its practicing members participation in a sacrament called reconciliation or confession. In this sacrament, the person who has sinned goes and tells a priest what he or she has done that is contrary to Church law. Next, the priest gives the person penance: something to do to pay for the sins. Once the penance has been done, the sin is absolved. I think it’s time for the Catholic Church to practice what it preaches. The Catholic Church needs to first admit to the wrong it has done in this situation, and then compensate the 450 people it would not protect from dangerous priests. When regular Catholics fail in their duties to the Church, they are expected to admit it and rectify the situation. It is only logical that the Church should do the same when it has failed its members.
The Catholic Church has handled the situation with the priests accused of molestation badly from the start. It’s time for the institution and the priests, bishops, and cardinals of high rank within the institution to take responsibility for protecting dangerous priests and allowing more innocent children to be hurt. The Catholic Church is a religious organization; it is more than reasonable to assume and expect that it knows the course of action that is morally right. I would expect the cop-out of bankruptcy from Phillip Morris or Enron, but I am shocked that such an action would be considered by a religion that claims to promote social justice. Bankruptcy may be a legal alternative, but as the Catholic Church has often stated regarding such matters as abortion and the death penalty: just because something is legal does not mean that it is morally acceptable.
