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F e a t u r e A r t i c l e
SEX, LIES, AND APOLOGETICS
By MICHAEL J. MAZZA
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This Rock
Volume 5, Number 12
 December 1994 
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Anyone who has endeavored to explain
the Catholic faith to non-believers has inevitably run up
against the following objection: "How can anyone believe the
Catholic Church is the one, true Church of Jesus Christ with
all the sex abusers in the ranks of its clergy?" This little
maxim is bound to be asked with even greater frequency in
light of the recent sex scandals rocking Ireland.
In case anyone has missed the news, the reports go as
follows: In 1993 a Norbertine priest, Brendan Smyth, was
indicted by a court in Northern Ireland for child
molestation. Since Smyth had fled to the South, authorities
in the North had to file an extradition request with the
Republic of Ireland. Attorney General Harry Whelehan, whom
The National Catholic Reporter described as a
"conservative Catholic," allowed the request to sit
unattended on his desk for seven months, apparently out of
concern for the negative publicity such a case would cause.
After being ordered to return to the North by Cardinal Cahal
Daly, Smyth pleaded guilty to 17 counts of indecently
assaulting five girls and two boys while serving in West
Belfast from 1964 to 1988. He was sentenced to four years in
prison in June 1994.
But that was not the end of the scandal. In November, just
hours before another priest, Liam Cosgrove, was found dead
in a homosexual nightclub in Dublin, Irish Prime Minister
Albert Reynolds appointed Attorney General Whelehan to the
Irish High Court. The Labor Party, partners in the
two-year-old coalition government in the Republic of
Ireland, demanded that Reynolds require Whelehan to explain
his refusal to extradite Smyth, the pedophile priest.
Reynolds refused and subsequently resigned his post, as did
Whelehan.
As the coalition government fell apart, Church officials
scrambled to repair the damage to their credibility. At a
meeting of the Irish episcopate that same month, the bishops
formally apologized for the scandal, saying that "child
sexual abuse by a priest is especially heinous not only
because it is an evil in itself, but because it is also a
violation of a sacred trust. . . . We recognize that these
children and their families have been hurt and betrayed by
abusive behavior on the part of a priest. They deserve an
apology, which we unreservedly offer."
November, it seems, was a rough month for the Church of the
emerald isle. While December was considerably quieter, the
storm set off by these scandals is far from over. There are
several reasons for this.
First of all, as the Irish bishops pointed out, sexual
misconduct by those charged with ministering in the name of
Jesus Christ is an especially grievous sin in that it
involves a betrayal of a sacred trust. Furthermore, the
scurrilous attempts at covering up such conduct only add to
the righteous anger many people feel. Fr. Gino Concetti,
writing in the November 20 issue of L'Osservatore Romano,
noted that "justice requires that the crime of sexual
violence be punished with the maximum sentences foreseen for
criminals," and he strongly condemned the notion that
pedophilia should be seen as a quasi-civil right.
Another reason why scandals of this sort go widely reported
in the media is probably the most important. The Catholic
Church remains the last bulwark against the insidious sexual
revolution. This is galling to the secular media, the
members of which do not seem to show a great deal of
affection for God's moral law, particularly those precepts
that deal with sexual activity. Thus, stories about sexual
sins within the bosom of the Church almost always receive
special attention and are usually followed by snide
commentary on the impracticality of expecting "ordinary
people" to adhere to the Church's teaching on sexuality.
As G. K. Chesterton remarked, "When it comes to beating the
Church, any stick will do." In this case, the "stick" is
sexual abuse by a few members of the ordained clergy. It has
already been stated that sexual abuse committed by anyone is
grossly sinful and should be severely punished, but it is
also quite true that the Church bears an unfair burden of
negative publicity surrounding this crime. That's almost
entirely due to its courageous stand against the prevailing
winds of a sexually-crazed society seemingly bent on its own
destruction.
In November 1989, Newsweek magazine reported that there
were 325,000 allegations of sexual abuse in the United
States, a 20-fold increase in ten years. Though the article
did not go into the reasons for the increase (rising crime?
better reporting? more lawyers?), it did note that as many
as 30% of those cases stemmed from mistakes or malice.
In a March issue of America, Fr. Andrew Greely stated
that "most sexual abuse victims are girls and young women
abused by their fathers and other male relatives." As for
the rest of the victims (boys and young men), "police
experts insist that most abusers of boys and young men are
in fact married men." Greely went on to add that Catholics
aren't the only ones who have to deal with this problem,
contrary to the impression given by media reporting: "I am
told Lutheran bishops estimate they spend a quarter of their
time on sexual abuse cases." (It is interesting, as well as
sad, to consider The New York Times' report in October
1993 that 1,800 Scoutmasters were removed over a 20-year
period on allegations of sexual abuse.)
So the Church is not alone in having pedophiles in its
ranks. As a matter of fact, the Church has been home to
entire classes of sinners who sin in a wide variety of ways.
One could argue that if it weren't for sin, there wouldn't
be any need for the Church. Far from excusing sinful
conduct, the Church exists precisely because Jesus
established it as the means through which he continues his
work of redemption, the work of saving sinners by bringing
them closer to himself. If the Church appears to welcome
sins, it is only because the Church welcomes sinners, who
bring their sins with them.
In its section on the Apostles' Creed, the Catechism of the
Catholic Church teaches that the true Church of Christ is
known by four "marks" (one, holy, Catholic, apostolic) which
are delineated in the centuries-old
Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed. The Catechism, in
quoting the Second Vatican Council's Decree on Ecumenism
(Unitatis Redintegratio), reaffirms the Church's teaching
that the Catholic Church alone satisfies all these
requirements: "For it is through Christ's Catholic Church
alone . . . that the fullness of the means of salvation can
be obtained. It was to the apostolic college alone, of which
Peter is the head, that we believe that our Lord entrusted
all the blessings of the New Covenant, in order to establish
on earth the one Body of Christ into which all those should
be fully incorporated who belong in any way to the People of
God" (CCC 816, quoting UR 3).
The Catechism also makes reference to Lumen Gentium,
Vatican II's Dogmatic Constitution on the Church: "The
one mediator, Christ, established and ever sustains here on
earth his holy Church, the community of faith, hope, and
charity, as a visible organization through which he
communicates truth and grace to all men. . . . This Church,
constituted and organized as a society in the present world,
subsists in the Catholic Church, which is governed by the
successor of Peter and by the bishops in communion with him.
Nevertheless, many elements of sanctification and of truth
are found outside of her visible confines" (LG 8).
This does not mean that all Catholics necessarily go to
heaven and all non-Catholics necessarily go to hell; such an
idea is an incorrect interpretation of the maxim extra
ecclesiam nulla salus ("no salvation outside the
Church"). A Catholic priest from Boston, Leonard Feeney,
was censured in the 1940s for teaching that all
non-Catholics were doomed.
Rather, the Church teaches that only those who truly know
the Catholic Church is the ordinary means by which God has
chosen to continue his work on earth and who then stubbornly
refuse to join have shut themselves out from the chance of
eternal joy. As a matter of fact, Catholics are taught that
they will be judged more severely because they have been
given more (LG 14-15).
The Church has handed down faithfully the depositum
fidei (deposit of faith) Christ gave to his apostles,
with all the aids to salvation and happiness that includes,
such as the sacraments and an infallible teaching authority.
The Catholic Church is the means Christ has established for
the salvation of the world. While it is certainly possible
for some people to "work out their salvation" without being
formal, visible members of the Church, it is important to
remember that Christ wants us to be fully in his Church and
to use the ordinary means of grace that are entrusted to it.
After all, he gave his life, out of love, so that we might
have access to them.
But what about scandals? Aren't notorious sinners such a
serious counter-sign to the gospel lifestyle that they cast
a shadow over the whole Church? Turning once again to the
Catechism, we learn that "Christ, 'holy, innocent, and
undefiled,' knew nothing of sin, but came only to expiate
the sins of the people. The Church, however, c.asping
sinners to her bosom, at once holy and always in need of
purification, follows constantly the path of penance and
renewal.
All members of the Church, including her ministers,
must acknowledge that they are sinners. In everyone the
weeds of sin will be mixed with the good wheat of the gospel
until the end of time. Hence the Church gathers sinners
already caught up in Christ's salvation but still on the way
to holiness" (CCC 827).
On more than one occasion our Lord himself predicted that
scandals would arise, causing harm within the family of God.
Rather than promising to rush down from heaven every time a
scandal looms, he assured us he will take care of everything
on the Last Day, warning that it would be better for those
who lead others astray to be thrown into the sea with
millstones hung around their necks (Matt. 18:6-7, Mark 9:42,
Luke 17:1-2).
Next time someone brings up a reported sex scandal as an
excuse not to climb on board the barque of Peter, try these
three simple steps:
First, remember that even priests have the right to be
presumed innocent until proven guilty. Catholics should
nurture a healthy skepticism to claims of sexual misconduct
recounted by a media establishment that hardly represents a
paragon of collective virtue and has repeatedly demonstrated
an avid thirst for Catholic blood. (Remember the furor over
Cardinal Bernadin?)
Second, if wrongful conduct is admitted or proved beyond a
reasonable doubt, we must acknowledge the damage and seek
justice with mercy, praying for everyone involved.
Finally, we must in any case defend the Church against its
accusers and could employ with great profit pertinent
passages from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, some
of which have been cited above.
Following these steps will not only help us deal with a real
and painful problem in a positive way, but will give witness
to our deep and abiding trust in the Lord of the Harvest.
Michael J. Mazza is the director of
evangelization for the Diocese of Sioux Falls, South
Dakota.
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